Battle of the Dead
by TriggerhappySOB
Summary: A brief story about one of Goku's adventures in Other-world after his death at the hands of Cell. How will he react to some surprising new, yet familiar faces, and some old enemies? So as to not ruin the plot of either of my stories, I'll not state too much. See how his outlook on life has changed, and what his time in Other-world has in store for him. Spin-off of WSHB.
1. Once more into the pit

**Hi all! Well, here we are! For those of you who haven't read my other work, this is a side-story that is supposed to fit in with my other DBZ fanfic: What should have been. With that being said, this can be read completely separate of the other, and vice-versa. As always with my works, don't be afraid to point out where I make mistakes, I'm open to criticisms and praise alike. I just hope that this is more worthy of the latter than the former. R&amp;R and enjoy!**

**CHAPTER 1: Once more into the Pit**

"Goku, I am well aware of what you've done for this universe in the past, but my hands are tied! This order comes down from the Grand Kai himself, and it is absolute!"

Goku stared up hopelessly at the giant red demon that was King Yemma. At his side, King Kai shifted uncomfortably, carefully avoiding looking at the halo that hung over his head. Goku scratched the back of his neck, attempting to force the itch of his anxiety away. He couldn't give up yet.

"But King Yemma, surely there is something that can be done? If I know the guys at all, they're going to try and wish me back to life-"

"We can't do that Goku. According to the Grand Kai, you are not allowed to go back. Ever. His orders were to have you sent to his world, for what I don't know."

Goku thought of his family back on earth. His son. His wife. All of his other friends. It began to dawn on him that he would never see them again. His blood chilled at the thought and he looked up pleadingly at Yemma. For the first time ever, the giant man appeared to be displaying pity before a mortal.

"I am sorry Goku, I know what this will mean for you and your family. But you did kill a Kai, and there are consequences for such an action."

Goku hung his head, slowly letting his fate sink in and wondering about what would soon be his existence.

***FIVE YEARS LATER – GRAND KAI'S WORLD***

Goku wandered about aimlessly. He'd walked these grounds millions of times before whenever he had to think. He thought a lot. In his time on the Kai's world, he had learned much. He'd discovered a group of heroes that had had been brought to the world for the opportunity to train under the Grand Kai. He'd learned that many of them were regularly sent out for missions within otherworld to keep the peace, and he'd learned just how powerful many of them were. He'd discovered that there were several Kai's, including one from each quadrant of the universe and the Grand Kai himself. He'd learned a lot about the history of the universe, and he'd even competed in the Grand Kai's tournament and tied for the win against Pikkon: a powerful Namekian-like warrior from the west quadrant.

But none of it bore the same joy it would have brought him five years before. In all the time he'd been here, he had heard nothing of his own world. He often wondered how his absence would affect everyone he knew. Gohan would be a young man by this point, and Goku tried hard to imagine what he would look like. His wife's image was permanently branded into his mind, haunting his dreams and stabbing his heart with longing every time he saw it. He missed the bond they shared. He missed his home.

That wasn't to say that otherworld wasn't nice, it really was. But his homesickness was driving him into insanity. Add onto that all of the training he had been forced into during his time there, and Goku was about at the end of his rope. On more than one occasion, he contemplated ways to get out, including destroying himself. But then he would remember that he was already dead, and incapable of doing so.

_I would rather they had sent me to hell._

His lamentations were interrupted by none other than Pikkon. The green alien waved him down and strode over to him.

"Oh, hey Pikkon."

Pikkon halted before him, looking at the Saiyan with a curious expression.

"Out here all on your own again huh? You alright?"

Goku quickly realized that he must be looking awefully depressed considering the thoughts he had been having, and shifted his expression into a weak smile.

"Yea, I'm fine Pikkon. Just thinking."

"You should learn how to lie better Goku… Your family again?"

Goku's eyes unfocused as he played images of his wife and son in his mind again. He hated that Pikkon knew him well enough to know when something was bothering him, but conceded that that's what happens when you make friends in strange places. He shook his head and smiled towards the green man.

"Yea, just wondering how they all are doing. But anyways, what's up? I don't usually find you here roaming about the Grand Kai's garden."

Pikkon considered him a moment and Goku worried that he would pursue the matter. He was relieved when he didn't.

"Well actually, I was sent up here to find you. The Grand Kai has something for us to do, and he seemed to think that you would get pretty excited about it."

Goku felt a brief pang of excitement shoot through him as all sorts of possible scenarios shot through his mind. Up to this point, he hadn't been sent out to do anything fun, which had resulted in his recent depression.

"Well, what is it?"

Pikkon cocked an eyebrow at him and crossed his arms with a slight smile on his face. He shrugged his shoulders and spoke in an amused voice.

"I don't know for certain, but it sounds like we're going to hell."

Goku felt a weight drop in his stomach as he recalled what he had been thinking only minutes before. It must have shown on his face because Pikkon rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Not permanently, he said that somebody was making a mess down there and now the Demon King has disappeared. By the sounds of it, many of your old rivals have banded together and are attempting to take over hell by force. It would seem they didn't like the arrangements that were set up for them."

Goku laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head, mumbling to himself.

"Heh. Maybe I shouldn't be so hasty with my words… Still, I would love to have another go at Frieza."

Pikkon grinned at his Saiyan friend, clapping him on the shoulder.

"That's the spirit! Now come on, you and I need to meet up with the Grand Kai as soon as possible, and he'll get the arrangements set up."

***HELL – BLOOD LAKE***

Goz and Mez were on the run. Hell was in total chaos; or rather it was in a worse state of chaos than normal. But this time, nobody was safe. It happened very often that people would come to hell, and of recent years, several of them had been quite nasty pieces of work. It took all of the two ogre's cunning and strength to keep things in a relative state of order, lest the Demon king be forced to interfere personally. But this time, things had gotten far beyond their control.

"Damn that guy! Who the hell does he think he is?"

Mez looked to his counterpart with a panicked expression as an explosion rang out behind him.

"Well he was screaming something about carrots back there. I don't know he wasn't making any sense."

Goz glanced to their rear before diving behind the cover of a statue, with Mez following close behind.

"Who ever heard of a guy going on a rampage over carrots?! I mean they're not that bad…"

"Well whatever it is, he still is going out of control! On top of that, those whackos that have been causing issues for the last thirty years have all banded together and are plotting something for sure!"

"Yea that doesn't bode well for us man! I mean we're not technically dead, and if Dabura has to get involved again he's going to kill us!"

"Well actually, if you two idiots had been paying attention, you would have noticed that the Demon king has actually gone missing. If anyone is going to kill you, it will be me."

The pompous voice rang out from behind them, startling the two of them and causing them to spin about looking for the source. It took them several seconds to realize that they were being spoken to from above. They froze and cowered at the sight before them. There, fronted by the grasshopper-like Cell, were several of Hell's more powerful detainees. Amongst them were Frieza with most of his cronies, King Cold, and the entirety of the Red Ribbon army. All of them stared down at the two ogres, their amusement apparent on their faces and their confidence radiating from them all.

"Crap! We're in for it now Mez."

Cell smirked and descended to the ground before the two ogres. The two of them cowered behind their bulbous muscles and peeked out at the android from behind their hands.

"Not quite yet you're not. First, you're going to tell us how to get out of this place while that bumbling idiot has everyone distracted. I cannot use Instant transmission to leave, but I know you told Goku how to get back onto snake way some years ago. You're going to tell me how, and don't bother trying to make a game out of it. You know as well as I do that neither of you are a match for me."

Confidence carried his voice in its pompous manner, and the two Ogres looked to each other with knowing eyes. If Cell were to get out of hell, there was no telling what he and the others would do. Even worse, they were certain that Dabura would eventually return, and if he did…

"No way! Say what you want to, we ain't telling you nothing!"

"Yea!"

Cell laughed, quietly at first before building into a full on uproar, and the others joined him soon after. The two Ogres sank lower and lower with every passing second, as if they could meld into the ground and disappear by sheer will alone. Cell's smile returned and he narrowed his eyes at the two.

"Oh, that is too funny. We'll just have to see about that now won't we… Get them."

He waved lazily over his shoulder and turned to leave, just as a huge group of villains rushed forward to seize the helpless duo.

***GRAND KAI'S HOME***

Goku bowed respectfully towards the shaggy looking Kai. The old man still looked like he was trying to live the youth of some of the kids on Earth, with his denim jeans and vest. To Goku he looked ridiculous, but he refrained from saying so out loud. The Grand Kai pushed his sunglasses higher on his nose and rose from his chair where he had been lazily resting, gazing up at the ceiling in apparent contemplation.

"Good, I see you found him. Are you two ready?"

Pikkon nodded, but Goku righted himself and held up a hand in question.

"Who exactly are we going after? Pikkon mentioned the guys from Earth and all that, but said he didn't know who was starting all the chaos."

The Grand Kai shrugged and planted his gloved hands on his hips with a confident smile.

"I don't know! It's fun isn't it? To be honest I'm rather jealous of you two, whoever did it is making an outright mess of it, and it's fun watching Yemma struggle with it. Heh heh."

Goku cocked an eyebrow at that, scratching the back of his head in confusion. He glanced to his side and shared a worried look with Pikkon.

"Ummm Grand Kai? Are you sure that this is something to be laughing about? I mean, by the sounds of it this could get pretty bad right?"

"Ahhhh don't be such a sour-puss Goku! Live a little!"

Goku furrowed his brow in frustration.

_You're the one who said I can't… Literally…_

Pikkon noticed the look that took over Goku's face and rubbed his temples in irritation.

"Sir, go ahead and send us now? I think we can handle whatever we find down there."

"Yea yea, Goku, I'm just gonna go ahead and remove your limitations on your Instant transmission. You two go to King Yemma and he'll send you to hell. You kids have fun alright?"

Goku felt a jolt of excitement at the words. He hadn't even attempted to use instant transmission since his death, having been told that it was one technique he would not be able to use. Without hesitation, he reached over and grabbed the back of Pikkon's robes, pressing his first two fingers to his forehead and tapping into his ki. As the two of them disappeared in a blink of an eye, the Grand Kai let out a deep breath and wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.

"Man… I don't know how long I would have been able to keep that charade up. That Goku… I hate having to do this crap to him."

***MINUTES LATER***

Goku blinked into existence, trailing a wide-eyed Pikkon that clutched at his chest and breathed heavily. Goku stepped forward and took in his surroundings. It was all as he remembered; The giant lake of blood with the fountain in the center, the thorny bushes and trees that littered the landscape, the rubble that was scattered everywhere. Even the smell was exactly the same. The one thing that stuck out in his mind was the lack of anybody being there. He glanced behind him and almost laughed out loud at the expression Pikkon wore, still frozen in place with wide eyes and gritted teeth.

"Ha! You okay Pikkon?"

The tall alien shook his head and brushed himself off, like he had just recovered from a fall.

"I'm fine, but we are _not _travelling that way again… So this is hell?"

Goku smiled and gazed around. In spite of the fact that he was literally standing in hell, he couldn't help but let his happiness for being somewhere besides the Kai's planet show on his face. It made even the bleak conditions seem like a vacation to him.

"Yep! This your first visit?"

"Yea. To be honest it's not quite what I expected… I think I was imagining brimstone and fire with a big red demon lashing you as you worked endlessly."

Goku laughed, remembering when he was a child all of the silly depictions of hell he had heard from people. He admitted that those fantastical places sounded much more hellish, but this wasn't his first visit.

"Nah, this is it! It's not too different than any other place really, with the exception of the blood lakes... And all the baddies… Speaking of…"

Goku closed his eyes and extended his senses. Immediately he felt out the ki of several thousands of beings, some more powerful than the others, but none sticking out so much as to raise any alarm bells. There were so many that he wasn't entirely sure where he was supposed to go next. But it was all so new and all so different that he got excited anyway. Somewhere in here was someone that he would get to test himself against, he only had to find them. He extended his senses out until the amount of ki pressing in on him was nearly unbearable and gave up. He scratched at the back of his head and looked around, slightly put out. Sudden inspiration struck him, and he cast his gaze up to the yellow clouds above him.

_Maybe I can…_

He felt his heart jump slightly and extended his senses out, searching for a very specific ki. But he realized that he was still unable to feel anything beyond the dense cloud cover and the barrier that lay within it. He tried not to let his disappointment show on his face, but Pikkon noticed.

"Hey, Goku what's up?"

Goku considered him for a moment before shaking his head irritably.

"Nothing… I just hoped I might be able to sense my son from here. It's stupid I know, but I thought that maybe the different location… Ah, whatever, you don't need to worry about it. Let's get this done."

Without a further word to him, Goku took to the air and began his search. It wasn't long before they began to notice signs of fighting. Residual energy radiated from multiple places, and Goku realized that much of the ki he was feeling was just that. His eyes scanned the landscape, picking out scorch marks and attempting to identify what had happened. There were no bodies lying about, but he reasoned since everyone was already dead here, they couldn't really die again. Or at least that's what he believed to be. He furrowed his brow and peeked over his shoulder towards Pikkon. He was about to pose a question when the green alien beat him to it.

"Hey Goku, I know you said you can sense energy right?"

"Yea, Ki. Why?"

"Is it a racial thing?"

Goku was slightly caught off guard by the question and halted himself. Pikkon zipped past him a few feet before halting himself likewise. Goku cocked his head to the side and blinked in surprise a couple times.

"No… Can you not sense ki?"

Pikkon merely shook his head with a shrug. Goku just stared at him in disbelief.

"How many people do you know that can?"

"Well, you're actually the first mortal I've met who can do it. I know the Kais can, but I thought that was just one of their abilities. So it's not something that only Saiyans can do?"

Goku considered it for a second before realizing that it was never something he had thought about. It just came natural to him from the time he was a child, and all of the Z fighters on earth were capable, he just assumed that everyone could. He cracked a smile and crossed his arms.

"Nope, there were earthlings that were capable of it too. Actually I was taught how to do it by an Earthling when I was a boy. I'm sure you can too, you just gotta learn how to notice it."

Pikkon furrowed his brow and nodded. Goku felt a tug at his consciousness as a burst of Ki radiated out from near them, and turned to face it. He saw a man take to the air some distance away from them and rush towards him. He balled his hands into fists and prepared himself for any threat the man posed, and awaited him to reach them. It didn't take long, and as his figure became clear, Goku felt his stomach drop like a lead weight. The man's overly muscular form was shrouded in Saiyan battle armor of black and orange, and his wild black hair flowed behind his head down to his waist. A fuzzy brown tail was wrapped tightly around his waist and as their eyes locked, an expression of shock showed on his face. He pulled up short and faced Goku, mere feet apart.

"Kakarot?!"

At Goku's side, Pikkon's ki spiked, and he spoke with barely contained curiosity.

"Kakarot? Goku do you know this guy?"

But Goku ignored the question, staring down the Saiyan. He tried to keep his face neutral as he glared at his long dead brother.

"Raditz. You're not the one causing all the trouble down here are you?"

Raditz gritted his teeth and looked between the two fighters before him, his expression one of fierce determination. His eyes locked with the golden halo above the both of their heads, and he snarled at his brother.

"No, actually. So you are dead then? I thought that you would have been brought back to life or something like that."

Goku shook his head, refusing to take his eyes off of his brother. The memories of their last encounter still stirred feelings of hatred towards him.

"Not this time. I'm dead for good."

"Then there are no Saiyans left?"

"Except for Vegeta and our sons."

"Bah! Filthy half breeds? Spare me."

Goku growled and crossed his arms defiantly. He was about to spit a retort back at his brother, but Raditz turned his back and waved it off before he could, descending back in the direction he had come.

"I don't have time to sit here and chat brother, the others await me. I'd suggest you follow."

Goku and Pikkon shared a glance at each other before cautiously following the Saiyan. They stayed back just far enough to be out of earshot, and Pikkon voiced his concerns.

"Goku, I'm not sure we should trust this guy. He said you were his brother, but somehow I get the feeling that it's not a friendly relationship you two share."

"No, you're right Pikkon. The last time I saw him we both died fighting, after he kidnapped my son and tried to force me to kill off a bunch of humans. But he may know something about what's going on down here, and he said 'others'. I'm curious who he means by that."

"Well, just stay on your guard okay? I don't want to have to save you like last time."

Goku rolled his eyes and returned his sights to his elder brother's back. They descended lower and lower, until Goku realized that they were almost upon a large cave system surrounded by brambles. Raditz touched down below them and immediately disappeared into the shade of the bushes, leaving Goku and Pikkon standing outside trying to peer into the inky blackness. It wasn't long before voices could be heard echoing out of the cave and Raditz reappeared. The two brothers stared hard at eachother for a moment before Raditz stepped to the side, crossing his arms and making way for another figure. Goku felt a jolt of recognition at the man that appeared before him, materializing out of the shade.

In size and stature, he was almost identical to Goku, and even his hair shared the same spiky quality. Like Raditz, he was armored in Saiyan battle armor, though his was of a green and black color scheme. For a moment, Goku thought that he was looking at Turles, but there were differences that separated them in his mind. There was a scar across his left cheek and he was considerably tanner than Turles. But the biggest difference was his eyes. While still the same pitch black that was shared by all Saiyans, his expression was anything but hostile. He seemed to be in a state of shock, a far cry from Raditz's expression of irritation.

"Kakarot? You're really here?"

Goku blinked a couple of times as the voice washed over him, eliciting an unbidden feeling of nostalgia from somewhere deep in his chest. He knew that voice, but he hadn't heard it in so long now.

"Father?"

A smirk graced the elder Saiyan's lips at his words, and he extended a hand towards his long lost son.

"It's a little late my son, but finally I get to meet you. Please, we are both men here, call me Bardock."

Goku was uncertain what he was supposed to do. Surely there was some proper Saiyan greeting that came with addressing his sire, but he didn't know what it could be. So he went with the usual earth greeting, and grasped his father's hand firmly with his own, and smiled when the gesture was not rejected. Behind Bardock's back, Raditz rolled his eyes and grumbled incoherently about how he still referred to Bardock as "father". Bardock glared over his shoulder at his oldest son irritably.

"Oh be quiet Raditz. You still haven't grown up."

Raditz sniffed irritably and turned on his heel to disappear once more into the cave. Bardock watched him go until he disappeared into the blackness and returned his gaze to his son. They released their grasp and stood apart, and Bardock sighed.

"He's still upset that you passed him up by so much since his demise. Granted we don't get to see anything that happens beyond this realm, but I knew of your ascension to Super Saiyan even before my death."

Goku felt his jaw drop at the revelation, and scratched at the back of his neck nervously.

"How? I had no clue what a Super Saiyan was until I transformed. I mean yea sure, Vegeta talked about it a lot but neither of us were quite prepared for it."

Bardock smirked again and tapped the side of his head with a single finger.

"One of the things that the people from planet Kannasan cursed me with before the destruction of our home was premonitions. I witnessed the downfall of Frieza and the rise of the Saiyan in Orange to the Legendary Super Saiyan years before it happened. I still had a difficult time believing it until Frieza found his way down here, along with his father."

Goku laughed nervously and scratched the side of his nose.

"Well actually, I didn't deal the final blow to either of them. That was Vegeta's son, Trunks."

Bardock cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"The prince has mated then? And sired another Super Saiyan no less?"

"Yep! We both erm… mated with Earthling women and had a son each, and all of us can transform."

Bardock looked like Christmas had come early for him and clapped his son on the shoulder.

"You will have to tell me about all of this! But not yet, your mother and King Vegeta will surely want to hear about it."

Bardock's eyes shifted suddenly over his son's shoulder, his expression neutral and calculating. Goku traced his eyes and saw that the subject of his contemplations was Pikkon, patiently standing off to the side like a statue.

"Oh, darn I almost forgot! Da-… Bardock, this is Pikkon, he came with me from the Kai's planet to deal with whatever is causing problems down here."

Bardock's expression darkened considerably at the change of subject, but he nevertheless nodded courteously towards the tall alien. Pikkon nodded likewise, and with those introductions out of the way, Bardock returned his eyes to his son.

"We may have to hold off on the family reunion then son. I'll let King Vegeta explain when we see him. Come on, I'll lead you through."

With that, Bardock turned and began his trek into the cave after his other son, with Goku and Pikkon close behind. As they entered the caves, Goku's eyes adjusted quickly, and he realized that there was a whole maze of caves beneath the hills. He stayed close behind his father, peering into the darkness and trying to remember the rout they were taking. The journey was complicated, but short, and soon there was a glow at the end of the tunnel, followed by the sounds of conversation. They emerged into a cavern of sorts, lit dimly by wall mounted lanterns. Goku felt his jaw drop at who all was inside however. Everywhere he looked, there were Saiyans. Each varied in height, anywhere between Vegeta's size all the way up to how large Nappa was when he was alive. All of them bore the usual Saiyan traits of pitch black hair and midnight eyes, and they were all looking at him.

Four Saiyans approached the trio as they entered the room. Three were males, one roughly the same size as Bardock and Goku with a muscular figure and hair pulled back into a ponytail, another of much shorter and plumper build and a messy mop, and the third of a monstrous size that seemed much older than the other two due to his primarily bald head. The other Saiyan was a female with a powerful build, like that of a professional body builder, with a tangled mess of short hair atop her head. All four of them were adorned in Saiyan battle armor of varying colors and designs, and all of them radiated a large amount of ki. Each wore their tails wrapped tightly about their waists, and they were staring hard at Goku with varying degrees of skepticism and confusion.

Bardock held up a hand to stall any questions or comments from them and looked about the cavern, searching for something.

"Guys, have you seen Gine?"

The lone female in the group crossed her arms and glanced over her shoulder briefly before returning her gaze to the newcomers. Goku stared right back, fascinated by his first glimpse of a female Saiyan. He knew that the Saiyan race was one of strength and ferocity, but he hadn't ever expected there to be anything remotely attractive at all. This woman was quite beautiful, even with her muscular build and careless appearance.

"Yea, your punk son pulled her to the side over there. Who's the runt? He looks Saiyan… minus the tail."

Bardock looked towards Goku with a smirk on his face before addressing them again.

"Remember how I told you guys who defeated Frieza all those years ago? Well… This is Kakarot, my second Son."

The four Saiyans reacted similarly, looking between the two Saiyans with contemplative expressions. The Saiyan directly in front of him with the plump build rubbed his chin curiously, scratching at the stubble around his trimmed goatee in an irritating manner.

"Well, I can certainly see the resemblance."

The female Saiyan nodded her head in agreement.

"Certainly more than you share with Raditz. This is the Super Saiyan huh?"

Goku smiled nervously and scratched the back of his neck. All of the attention was starting to get to him. Normally it wouldn't bug him, but there was something about being among other members of his race that made him nervous. He felt the impulse to show off, to prove his father's word and transform, but held himself back out of anxiety. Thankfully, Bardock pushed them aside none too gently, parting them so that Goku and Pikkon could follow him into the room. Goku flinched when the female Saiyan leaned in closer to him as he passed, her eyes narrowed as she stared up at him with a confident smirk on her face. He picked up the pace, following close behind Bardock and nervously glancing over his shoulder. He barely heard the hushed conversation that started up behind them.

"Super Saiyan? He doesn't look all that powerful to me. I bet Bardock could whip him still."

"Probably, if that little tussle with Raditz after he died said anything."

"Well, we'll just have to see what the King has to say about this huh? Super Saiyan or not, he's the outsider here. We don't need his help."

"What I don't get is why he gets a halo. What makes him so special?"

"Bet he's a kiss ass."

Goku sniffed irritably and returned his eyes to the front, shutting out the conversation. He was abruptly halted when a smaller body slammed into his front, squeezing him around the middle. He blinked in surprise a few times, trying to understand what he was seeing. From his vantage point, he could only make out a tangled mess of shoulder length hair and a tail waving about excitedly. Judging by the small size of the person hugging him, he guessed that it was a woman, slightly shorter than Chi Chi. Bardock stood to the side, glaring about the room as if to challenge anyone who dared interrupt, and Raditz could be seen to the side shaking his head face-palming.

"Kakarot! Oh my son, it's really you isn't it?"

"Mother! Must you make a spectacle before the entire race?!"

Goku cocked an eyebrow at his brother's outburst and glanced down at the woman again.

"Mother?"

"Oh let me look at you!"

Once again, Goku was uncertain what he should do, and resorted to just standing there awkwardly. Gine stepped back and clasped her hands together excitedly, and Goku got his first real look at his mother. She was indeed short, and her delicate features made her seem much more like a human than a Saiyan. While the other female Saiyan he'd met was powerfully built, his mother seemed of a much softer type. She was still toned and very well defined, and she wore Saiyan battle armor, but her entire demeanor was different. Her bright smile filled him with a happiness he hadn't felt in a very long time, and it brought forth a grin from him.

"Wow! My mom… Cool!"

"My, you look every bit like Bardock! Well, except the scar of course, but you've still got those dashing looks. So tall too!"

"Mother! This display of affection is despicable."

Raditz' aggravated growl cut through the moment, and Gine's expression quickly turned to open irritation as she turned her gaze upon her eldest son.

"Oh be silent Raditz! You can cling to our old ways if you'd like, but it got us landed in this dump if I recall correctly. Now be a good boy and shut up before I have to pull out the pan!"

Goku couldn't help himself, he fell into a fit of laughter at the thought. Many of the other Saiyans laughed as well, though he suspected for a different reason. Gine turned a curious eye to him, as did Bardock and Raditz. He sobered up enough to wave off their confused expressions.

"Don't mind me, I just realized that you and my wife would get along extremely well."

A few seconds passed where they looked at him curiously before Goku realized that they didn't exactly understand the term "wife".

"My… umm… mate used to use a pan whenever she got mad at me or our son. It seemed that was the only thing that would have any effect on us."

Behind her back, Goku could see his father roll his eyes, and barely heard him mutter something about "crazy women". His mother, on the other hand, lit up at the mention of grandchildren and beamed at him.

"A mate! And a son! My, it's been so long. Tell me, where did you go? Bardock said that you defeated Frieza? What's happened?"

Goku laughed sheepishly as she rattled question after question, wondering where to begin.

"I would hear this as well, Kakarot, son of Bardock."

The powerful baritone that rumbled through the room silenced the quiet buzz of conversation and hung in the air with a feeling of authority. Gine and Bardock both stiffened slightly and looked somewhere off to the right of Goku before following the example of those around them, pressing a fist to their chest and bowing slightly. Goku glanced around curiously, noticing all the Saiyans present were doing likewise, and turned about to find the source of the voice. The man who confidently strode into the room radiated authoritative power, both in his posture and in the harsh visage he wore upon his face. It didn't take a second glance for him to realize who the newcomer was. He was a much taller version of Vegeta, though they two of them had similar body types. King Vegeta however wore a simple and neatly kept beard that matched the color of his flame-shaped hair. He wore a simple set of white Saiyan armor with red trim and a blood red cape that flowed gracefully from his shoulders.

Goku took one last glance around before fisting his right hand and following the gesture of the others. He may have only just discovered the rest of the Saiyan race, and he was quite certain that he was more powerful than anyone else in the room, but the king was the king for a reason, and he decided pissing him off would do no good. He held his tongue until he got a cue to do or say something else, and looked at the King as he stopped before him. Their eyes met, and Goku found himself staring into a pair of eyes that were full of years of pain and torture, as well as the strength to cope with it.

_The eyes of the warrior. Man, everything about this guy screams strength… Too bad I'd be able to beat him pretty easy._

King Vegeta seemed to be searching for something for several moments before he gestured for Goku to return to his original state. He did so, and a quick glance around told him that the other Saiyans in the room had also stood straight again. Vegeta continued to stare at him, but began walking about him in a wide circle, clasping his hands behind his back. Goku realized he was being inspected, and stood still, patiently waiting for him to finish.

"I admit, I was skeptical when Nappa told me that Kakarot had come to hell with the rest of his kin, and I see that my skepticism was well earned. You bear a Halo, which means you've been up with the other goody-goodies in Other-world?"

Goku was puzzled by the direction his words led, but thought nothing of it. He noticed another figure enter the room, which proved to be the massive form of Nappa himself. The general stood as tall as ever, with muscles bulging from under his Saiyan armor. Goku felt a pang of anger at the sight of him, but the other Saiyan didn't even seem to notice he was there, despite him being the center of the attention at the moment.

"Yea, I've been in Otherworld. I was killed in combat nearly five years ago now."

Vegeta continued to circle him slowly, and Goku heard his voice from behind him, full of curiosity.

"Five years hmm? I was told you were a Super Saiyan, and that you defeated Frieza. Surely you would not be one to fall to a lesser being?"

Goku nodded, turning his head to look directly at the king.

"I did defeat Frieza, though his death was not at my hands. As for me, I was killed by a creature named Cell. My son overpowered him after my death, and I believe he's here."

King Vegeta halted in front of the other Saiyan, crossing his arms and staring him down.

"Yes, we've had our share of run-ins with Cell, though none of us knew that he was one to take down a Super Saiyan. Our numbers are so few now, largely due to him."

Goku blinked in surprise at that statement, wondering what the king could mean by that. Surely it wasn't possible to kill someone that was already dead? But then, there were far fewer Saiyans than he had originally thought there would be. But the king didn't allow him to dwell on in too much.

"You said that you defeated Frieza, but did not kill him? Tell me, who did?"

Goku felt a small smile twitch the corners of his mouth upwards as he remembered the day in his mind. Watching from a distance with his ki as Trunks made his debut, coming out of nowhere and totally obliterating the small force of King Cold's planet-trade ship.

"That would be your Grandson, Trunks. He came back in time to warn us of a future threat, and destroyed Frieza and his father in mere seconds. It was quite the display of power, and the second Super-Saiyan any of us had ever seen."

The king quirked an eyebrow at that, a small vein pulsing in his forehead.

"You mean to tell me that not only did a low-class Saiyan surpass my son, but _his _son has done it as well? Not to mention, if your Son defeated Cell, he must be a Super Saiyan as well."

Goku scratched at the back of his neck nervously, shrugging his shoulders and glancing about at the other Saiyans in the room.

"Well, sorta. If you want to get technical, Vegeta… er… your son was the second Super Saiyan, since Trunks came back in time. At the time, our Trunks wasn't even born yet."

Vegeta's eyebrow twitched as he glared at the Saiyan before him. He took a deep breath and gestured towards a row of stools that littered the room, having apparently been carved out of the rock below them or the vines and roots above them.

"This, I want to hear. Come, take a seat. I would hear everything you have to tell me about my son and grandchild before you leave."

Goku glanced behind him to his parents. His father held a stern expression that belayed no hint of advice or acknowledgement. Goku reasoned that as he was a soldier in the king's army, it was a normal reaction for him. His mother however, gestured for him to go ahead. Nodding his acknowledgement, Goku turned back towards the king, and strode over to his seat. King Vegeta swung his cape about to prevent it from being caught beneath him as he sat, and looked directly at Goku with a serious glare.

"Now, begin were you and Nappa first met. I want to know everything."

**A/N: I decided to cut it off here for now, and there will be another one up before too long. This story-line isn't going to be a long one like my other fic, but I fully intend to bring out the entertainment potential of it before its done. As always, you all have a fantastic day, and stay tuned for more updates!**


	2. Past and Present

**Okay so I must apologize right up front for how long it took me to actually get this up. Things have been difficult recently with life in general, and I haven't had much time for either of my stories. But here it is finally, and i'm actually pretty happy with how it came out. Lots of dialogue, and it works its way into the next chapter, which i'm thinking is probably going to be the last one for this fic. It's short, but it is only an offshoot of my primary story after all. Anyways I hope you guys like it, and I'll get the next one up as soon as I am able.**

**CHAPTER 2: Past and Present**

Goku leaned into his knees with his elbows and waited patiently for King Vegeta to respond. He'd gone through his abreviated history as best as he could remember, starting with the battle with the Saiyan prince. It only took a few minutes total, and he only went into detail about his and Vegeta's past when asked. The king looked shocked for a few parts of his story, including the part where he and his friends had fought Broly on "New Vegeta" shortly before Cell, but hadn't interrupted. For the majority of his explanation, the King just sat and listened. It was strange, retelling his past. It all seemed so distant now, like he hadn't actually done it, like he had seen it in a movie. His mother and father stood to the side, along with the rest of the Saiyans who cared to listen in. Some of them looked upon him in open skepticism. Others seemed to believe him and were impressed. When he finished his tale with the explanation about the circumstances of his death and permanent state of being on the Kai's world, his mother had stiffened anxiously, sharing a nervous look with her mate.

King Vegeta nodded and stood, crossing his arms and looking down on him. He scanned the room critically before nodding his head, deciding something in his mind.

"It is a… strange tale… to be certain. But that is neither here nor there. We have all been here for a very long time now, and we've taken care of our own. We took care of our own even when we were forced into servitude under Frieza. We do not need the assistance of the Kai's to deal with our problems here. You should leave."

Goku recoiled in surprise at the statement, lost for words as the King turned his back on him and began walking away. Glancing around quickly, it seemed that a few of the other Saiyans, including both of his parents seemed shocked at the king's words. Irritation flared inside Goku's chest, realizing that his pride had taken a blow. He stood quickly, and if his heart were still beating, he knew his heart rate would have spiked.

"Leave? I can't just leave, I just got here!"

Without turning to face him, Vegeta stopped and stiffened.

"You shouldn't have come in the first place. We don't need your help. You, or your _friend_."

Goku felt his anger spike in full at that. He clenched his fists and looked about at the others faces. A few of them looked towards the King fearfully, but most glared at Goku for daring to defy his orders.

"If that was so, then I wouldn't have been pulled from my miserable existence up there to fix this mess in the first place. I know Cell, he's more powerful than anyone else I've ever faced before, and if he's teamed up with the likes of Frieza, then you're going to need all the help you can get! You already said that Saiyans have died here, so how are you going to fix it?"

In his anger, he spat the words out much more forcefully than he intended. The question he posed came as a challenge to the King, who abruptly turned to face him, his face contorted in disgust and anger.

"You wouldn't know anything about it fool! Our brothers and sisters have fallen to a worse fate than death! When they lost their bodies, they ceased to exist as anything more than lost souls! They are stranded here in this hell, without a conscious thought or any will of their own. They stopped existing! These crimes will not go unpunished, but you will not do anything about it. _We Saiyans _must defend our pride and avenge the fallen! Not you."

_That's it? Pride? Well now I know where Vegeta got his stubborn sense of pride from._

"So then what is one more Saiyan to you? I –"

"You're no Saiyan. You've never been a part of us. You are more Earthling than Saiyan."

The king spat the statement at him, cutting him off and glaring at him in challenge. Goku glared at him, trying to decipher his words. In truth, Goku agreed. He wasn't raised a Saiyan, he was raised a human. His entire existence had been shattered when he learned of his origins, but it didn't take away from the fact that at his core, he was an Earthling. Goku just clenched his jaw and glared at him in response. The King growled and shook his head, breathing deeply to control his anger.

"The one causing trouble here is not Cell, he's just capitalizing on the fact that Dabura is gone. No, the problem here is a Saiyan. The son of one of my best generals no less, and your ward-brother. He's done nothing since his arrival here days ago except scream your name in rage and destroy anything that got in his way."

Goku furrowed his brow in concentration, trying to understand what the King was speaking of. He'd not known of any brothers except for Raditz, much less whatever this "ward-brother" was. The only person who he had ever had scream his name in such a way was…

"Broly?!"

The realization brought up more questions to the front of his mind. Last he knew, Broly had died on New Vegeta years ago. By all rights, he should have been sent to hell on that day. His jaw was hanging open as he tried to process it all in his mind. King Vegeta crossed his arms and cracked his neck to the sides, still glaring at him.

"It seems you've put it together. Broly is like nothing I've ever encountered before. To be honest, I didn't even know he existed until Paragus found his way here after his death at the hands of his own Son. The Legendary Super Saiyan is once again amongst his own, and the first thing he did was go on a rampage because of _you_. We're being forced into hiding from him because he is so determined to destroy you."

Goku gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, hearing the knuckles crack under the strain.

"Well then let me deal with him! I've fought him before, and defeated him then. I can do it again."

Vegeta smirked at that, his smug expression matching his son's exactly in Goku's mind.

"What makes you think you stand a better chance than us? You're a Super Saiyan, but nothing more. You required help to defeat him last time, and we have greater numbers than you ever did."

Goku stared at him in confusion, wondering if the King was naive or just thick. His expression gave away his thoughts, and Vegeta narrowed his eyes. Goku raised a hand to make a point, but before his mouth could even utter the words he was about to say, a burst of ki flooded out of the King before him. Vegeta continued to sneer, even as his eyes whited out to be replaced by teal irises. His already spiky hair flared for a moment as if caught in the wind, and gold sparks shot out from him. A shockwave of force emanated from him, and his hair streaked gold before glowing bright. The tail wrapped around his waist began to glow, and to top it all off, so did his beard. His transformation completed, and the Super Saiyan aura about him thrashed about like a wildfire. It was quite the spectacular display, but for the life of him, the only thing Goku could see was his beard. He just stared at it with wide eyes, as if he wasn't sure it was gold or not. Vegeta continued to sneer back at him, shrugging off the younger Saiyans gaze.

"You see Kakarot, you aren't the only Super Saiyan in hell. There isn't anything you can do that is out of my reach. So tell me, why should we need, much less want, your help?"

Goku just blinked twice before abruptly bursting into a fit of laughter. All the Saiyans in the room stared at him in open confusion, even Nappa, who stopped pretending to ignore him and watch. Goku hunched over, holding his stomach in a futile attempt to stifle the fit. Pikkon glanced around nervously from behind him, a single bead of sweat dripping down the side of his face. King Vegeta looked like he was about to blow a gasket.

"Have you lost your mind Kakarot! You dare laugh at me?! I've got half the mind to kill you-"

Goku waved him down, wiping a tear from his eye as he finally managed to get his laughter under control. He breathed heavily for a moment to regain his breath and stood up straight.

"Sorry! I'm sorry, it's just… Of all the things, your _beard _turned gold?! How weird is that?!"

That brought out an amused smirk from several of the other Saiyans gathered, while Raditz stood behind their parents and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Kakarot, you are still an idiot."

Vegeta quirked an eyebrow at him, trying to understand whether or not Goku was being serious. Goku grinned and scratched the back of his neck again, realizing that he had just openly made fun of Royalty. Suddenly remembering that he had been asked a question earlier, he blinked in surprise. Locking eyes with the King, he let his grin shift slowly into a confident smirk. He began to tap into his ki, feeling his hair begin to wave and stand straighter on its own accord as the power began flowing. He made sure he had the King's attention before speaking, and when he did, it was in a completely different tone. All hints of humor and lightness were gone, replaced by a serious weight that let others know when he meant business.

"Back to your question sire. You want to know what I can do? I'd suggest you brace yourself…"

He trailed off before opening the chasm wide, allowing his power to push through, and triggering the transformation. The first came without a sound from his mouth, barely making an impact on his surroundings as his aura formed calmly around him. His previous training in the Super Saiyan state gave him an unprecedented level of control over it, and it cost him nothing to get there. King Vegeta remained where he was, his arms crossed and his expression impassive. He was gauging Goku up, and Goku saw the hint of uncertainty in his eyes. Latching onto that sense of power over the King, he gritted his teeth and began pulling more from himself. He reached deep down into the well of his ki and ripped the second transformation out. It was painful, just as it had been the first time he had done it, and he unintentionally let loose a short scream as his body compensated for the sudden burst of ki. Things blinked out of focus for a moment as his transformation completed, and when his eyes found the king once more, he was delighted to see open shock and awe etched into his features. Lightning arced off of his body and grounded in any surface near him, snapping through the air with a crack each time. He knew that realistically, not much had changed on the surface. His hair may have spiked a little bit higher, but all other outward appearances were inconsequential; A fact which several Saiyans seemed to notice.

King Vegeta's momentary spell of fear dissipated with Goku's aura as he brought his recently found power under shaky control. Unlike his first transformation, he had rarely ever actually brought this transformation out, and his self-control was nearly as bad as his first time on Namek. His hormones ran rampant, and the urge to fight was almost unbearable now. A tiny voice at the back of his head told him to fight them all and win, but Goku knew better. He wrestled the urge down and glared cooly back at the King, who was now smirking at him with an amused glare.

"What? Is that it? You've figured out how to give us a little extra in your light show. The lightning is pretty boy, but it hardly shows me why I should let you stay. I, however, will gladly help you see your way out!"

King Vegeta confidently strode forward, and the room filled with an excited buzz. Goku could feel Pikkon's ki spike behind him, but kept his own mind calm.

_They obviously can't read power levels or he wouldn't be so confident about this. None of them know how outclassed they really are. Ok Goku, think, what do you do?_

As Vegeta reached him, his arm came out to grasp his shoulder, no doubt to force him to turn and leave. Reacting completely on instinct, Goku's arm snapped up faster than the other Super Saiyan could react to and grasped his wrist with a vice-like grip. Vegeta gaped at him a moment before trying to rip his arm from Goku's grasp, but to no avail. Goku grunted in irritation and torqued the king's arm to the outside, forcing him to one knee to lessen the sudden pain with a pained growl. The room became silent but for the sounds of Vegeta's aura and the strained grunts as he fought to remove himself. In a desperate act, Vegeta swung out with his one free arm, his fist crashing hard into Goku's solar plexus. He felt the muscles contract and his rib cage bend with the blow, and his breath was forced out of him in a loud huff. His grip momentarily loosened with the blow, but his anger flared once more. His brow furrowed and his aura shooting up around him. His grip returned with a vengeance, earning a pained gasp from the King.

"This is why you need my help _sire. _You're not even strong enough to hurt me."

Clenching the fist of his opposite hand, he swung it around in a wide punch that hit Vegeta square in his cheek. He barely rememberd to draw back on his own strength as the strik hit, lest he do any real damage. He released the king's wrist as his head spun around with the force of the blow. His super Saiyan aura faded in a flash as he dropped out of the first transformation and onto the floor with a heavy thud. Goku's Saiyan instincts roared in approval, but he forced it back down again. He simply stared down at Vegeta, breathing deeply to calm himself and bring his aura under control again. He knew he had acted brash in that moment, but he'd be damned if he knew another way to make the King pay attention. Vegeta pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, looking surprisingly calm considering he had just been humiliated by a third class warrior.

"You dare to strike royalty…?"

Goku stood straight and crossed his arms, continuing to stare down at the king with contempt as he tried to regain his feet.

"I nearly killed your son already, so yea hitting royalty is nothing new to me."

Vegeta stood, rolling his shoulders back and turning to face him, no expression visible behind his calculating eyes. Silence reigned supreme amongst the Saiyans once more as they awaited the King's response. Vegeta's eyes narrowed for a moment before he let loose a bark of a laugh.

"HA! It would seem I misjudged you Kakarot. You are the first Saiyan I've met in this life or the previous who dared to strike me! You're more Saiyan than I originally gave you credit for. Now tell me, what is that? How is it you can overpower me so easily?"

Goku blinked in shock, staring at the man incredulously. A quick sideways glance showed that many others in the room were similarly affected by the change in tone. Goku quirked an eyebrow and let the flow of ki go, dropping out of Super Saiyan entirely.

"Um… That was the Ascended Saiyan transformation. I prefer to call it Super Saiyan two though. Easier to remember."

Vegeta absently rubbed at the shiner on his cheek, quirking an eyebrow at the younger Saiyan.

"Super Saiyan… Two? What the hell are you talking about?"

Goku rubbed at the back of his neck, glancing behind him at Pikkon, who appeared to be highly amused with the whole situation.

"Um Yea. You know, a level beyond a normal Super Saiyan? My son was the first to uncover it when fighting Cell on Earth. I only found it on the Kai's world by accident during meditation."

That wasn't entirely true. His discovery of the second transformation was triggered in a fit of frustration on his part a couple years before. He'd gotten so fed up with the Grand Kai that he had taken it out on a mountain range, and in the midst of it all he had somehow triggered it. He still hadn't properly apologized for that. Vegeta's hands dropped to his sides, his expression one of barely contained frustration.

"Fantastic, I spend thirty years trying to achieve the pinnacle of our race, only to find that it isn't. Fine Kakarot, I obviously cannot make you leave. But do not get in our way, we will deal with this threat on our own terms, not yours."

With that, he spun about and left the room in stunned silence, closely followed by Nappa and a couple other Saiyans he couldn't identify. Goku watched after him for only a moment before he was nearly tackled by his mother once again. Bardock strode over, his eyes following Vegeta's movements until he was standing mere feet away, and he smirked at his younger son. Gine backed off and lightly punched Goku on the shoulder with a wide smile.

"It's about time somebody put him in his place! I swear if I had to hear any more of his dribble about Saiyan pride and whatnot, I'd have hit him myself."

Goku laughed nervously at that, knowing that his mother wouldn't be able to actually do anything to the King if she wanted to. While she was far superior to the vast majority of fighters from earth judging by her ki, compared to many of the others in the room, she was very weak. In fact, as he scanned about absent-mindedly, he realized that the most powerful ki in the room was standing right next to him. He turned his head to his father, who continued to smirk at him.

"Heh. It seems you've made an impression on the King. It's not very often he gets flustered. It's little wonder to me why the prince would find you so infuriating."

Behind them, many Saiyans continued to stare incredulously at the tail-less Saiyan as he laughed sheepishly. Raditz gaped at him openly, his hands clenched into tight fists at his sides.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me! My kid brother hits the king and just gets away with it! What the hell is this shit?!"

Completely ignoring the outburst from the edge of the room, Goku grinned and continued scratching at the back of his neck.

"Trust me, you have _no _idea how badly Vegeta wanted to best me since the first time I fought him on earth. Shoot, I'm the reason he became a super saiyan himself! His pride wouldn't allow 'a mere third class warrior to surpass a Saiyan Elite'."

He put on a mock glare reminiscent of the prince's and mimicked his voice as he said it, earning a snort of amusement from his mother and a quizzical look from Bardock. Raditz rolled his eyes and gazed at the ceiling in irritation as he joined the rest of his family along with Pikkon, who did his best to avoid the glares of the many Saiyans scattered about. The other Saiyans in the room more or less went back to what they were doing with the exception of the group that had originally greeted them. Raditz crossed his arms and faced his brother, who just stared back at him with a neutral expression.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me. That doesn't even sound… Okay maybe a bit. But enough of the pleasantries Kakarot, it's painfully obvious we won't be rid of your annoying presence any time soon, so what is it you plan to do?"

Goku hesitated at that, shrugging his shoulders and looking at them apologetically.

"Well to be completely honest, I don't have a plan. Big battle planning was never really my thing, I'm just good at the fighting part. I rarely had to do much planning, and when I did, I… tended to make mistakes."

It was true. He'd thought about it a long time since his second death, reliving old fights in his mind. His fight with Raditz had turned out less than ideal, mostly because he had died in the process. There was no real plan when fighting Vegeta and Nappa, but then there wasn't much they could do in that situation. During his fight with Frieza, he had simply let the shape shifter max out even though he had the perfect opportunity to win and be done with it. And during the fight with Cell, he'd counted too much on his own Son to save them all. In the end, it had worked out well enough, with the side-effect that he was now almost permanently in a state of depression. Powerful though he was, Goku was well aware of his shortcomings, particularly in his intelligence.

"Brilliant, and you all call me the brute."

His brother's deadpanning brought him out of his inner musings and for a moment the two of them clashed in their stares again. Bardock placed a firm hand on both their shoulders, his eyes darting between the two of them and his expression stern.

"Would the two of you stop it! We've got bigger fish to fry right now. When this is over, then we can deal with this."

"So be it."

"Yea."

With that out of the way, both Saiyans averted their eyes and crossed their arms, refusing to look at the other. Bardock smirked at that and looked thoughtfully at the ground between them.

"Well, as for a plan, we've already got one. Although with you added to our numbers Kakarot, I think we can deal with Broly a bit easier. The guy is big, and he's certainly not letting up on anyone he comes across, but we have superior numbers. All of our Elites that remain will be there for the final confrontation, I'll introduce you beforehand so you know who is who. Finding him is not going to be that big of an issue at least."

Goku quirked an eyebrow at that, wondering how they would find Broly if none of them could read ki and none of them had scouters. Hell, he was wondering how he would find Broly with all of the energy clouding his own senses. As it was he had difficulty differentiating whos ki was who in this room because there was so much of it. On earth it was easy, there weren't that many people who had any substantial amount of ki, and he knew them all personally. But here…

"Just follow the screaming and explosions and I can almost guarantee he'll be there."

_Oh yea… Kinda forgot about that._

Suddenly Goku remembered the other fighter from otherworld who had accompanied him, whos own ki was nearly rivaling his own.

"Oh hey, I almost forgot! There's one other person who can help us out a lot! I already introduced you to Pikkon, but I may have left out the bit where he's almost as strong as I am, and certainly more skilled."

The Saiyans collectively turned towards the green warrior and looked him over with a skeptical eye. Pikkon kept his expression neutral but glared right back, defying any of them to test him. Of course, considering that none of them could feel the magnitude of his abilities by senses alone, it was no wonder to Goku that they were skeptical. He clapped the tall namekian-like warrior on the shoulder and beamed up at him.

"We fought to a draw in a tournament in otherworld! Though I think he's been here for a while longer than me…"

"Hmph… Try a few hundred years, you little upstart."

Goku shrugged at that and returned his eyes to his father, who still seemed skeptical, but nodded anyways.

"Well, if he's anywhere near as powerful as you, I'm not going to turn his help away. The King may be in charge here, but I command his forces now. After trying to take down Frieza, I know how much every bit of aid counts."

Goku hesitated at that, seeming to hear a long lost memory in the back of his mind.

"You command? I'm sorry, I'm confused. I thought that Nappa was the General of his armies?"

Bardock smirked at that and glanced over his shoulder to where the giant Saiyan had disappeared with the king.

"Yea, the big guy used to be. After the prince killed him, he ended up filling a more _advisory _role. He was once the most powerful Saiyan besides the king, but that's long since been changed. My team and I managed to surpass him quite soundly, and so I got put in charge."

Goku grinned at that, planting his fists on his hips and standing straight.

"Cool! So… uh… when do we do this?"

Bardock smirked and crossed his arms.

"Soon Kakarot. We've got some last minute arrangements to make. But in the mean-time, I think you have some catching up to do. The remains of the Saiyan race are all about you! Oh and…"

Bardock considered him with that same smirk and narrowed eyes, looking him over from head to foot. Goku stared at him in confusion before looking down at himself. Was it his clothes?

"Let's see if we can do something about those. You are a Saiyan, I think we can help you fit the bill a bit better."

***SOME TIME LATER***

Goku shrugged and stretched his arms out to the side, feeling the surprisingly weightless sensation of the armor that he had donned at the request of Bardock. He looked down at it with wonder, pulling at the stretchy plastic that formed the chest-plate. It was very similar to his fathers in design, lacking the shoulder boards that jutted out of many of the other Saiyan's armor. In color, it was primarily burnt orange and white. His chest was bare beneath the plate, but his lower half had been covered by a set of black pants that fit tightly to his legs. On his feet he had donned a pair of white boots that extended almost to his knees in the form of armored shin guards wrapped tightly around his calves by a flexible orange material. It wasn't unlike the armor he had worn during his time in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber before Cell, and this set fit him even better. Though he found it slightly odd to be able to see his own shoulders and as he looked down.

"This is… actually pretty impressive! I didn't think that this stuff was so light. The last set I wore was a bit cumbersome compared to my Gi! These are different than the copies Bulma made."

He looked up at his mother, who had fetched the garb for him and was smiling up at him with a motherly expression. She was currently holding his regular clothing, and he was slightly thankful that it wasn't weighted like he used to do. She shrugged and tugged on the shoulder strap of her own black and green armor.

"The Saiyan battle armor is actually something we recovered from Tuffle technology long ago. That rat Frieza saw the usefulness of it and used it for his own men. You probably don't believe it, but we had that plate created not too long ago! Bardock can seem so stoic sometimes, but deep down he always wanted to meet you, so he had it created just in case he ever got the chance. I thought he was just being sentimental, but now you're here to actually wear it! I gotta say, it suits you."

Her tail waved about excitedly behind her and Goku couldn't help but grin at her statement. There were many questions he wanted to ask her about them. How was Bardock able to see into the future? Did he know he would be coming to hell? What else does he know? But then one popped into his mind that he wasnt at all hesitant to ask.

"Sooo… how exactly do you guys make this stuff anyways? I'm sorry but there doesn't seem to be too many ways to make armor down here."

Gine grinned, her tail flicking with excitement behind her.

"Oh it's really quite simple! We just use ki to compress and mold whatever material we want to make it out of and change the molecular structure! Depending on what you use to make it, it'll make it different strengths and elasticity! Some of our more skilled users can simply create the armor out of things like air! Actually that's exactly how I made that armor you're wearing now! Well… Mostly. The things like the body suit are a bit more difficult since we have to scavenge for materials here."

Goku blinked at her a few times as her explanation sank in, and he was immediately reminded of the ability Piccolo managed to perfect which sounded nearly identical to her description. He'd always wondered how the Namekian was able to create clothes out of thin air. He decided that if he ever had the chance he'd have to ask him about his "clothes beam". He couldn't help it, he let out a chuckle and grinned.

"Heh. Clothes beam…"

"Pffft! Oh that's good."

Together, the two of them got lost in the moment of seemingly pointless amusement. Gine sighed, bringing Goku back to the now as her eyes took on a distant look, her mouth still holding a small smile.

"You know, it's strange Son. Having you here? We're all together, for the first time since you were born, and I don't know what to expect now. That first day, your brother and Father were there with me, and I had such high hopes that we would finally be able to pull our lives together and do something that I'd dreamed of for years."

Goku tilted his head to the side, considering her for a moment. She seemed to come out of whatever memory she was watching and locked her onyx eyes with his, her smile growing again.

"It was considered improper when Bardock and I met, forging anything with another Saiyan besides a battle bond or the expected mating to make the race stronger. When I was a part of Bardock's elite, I had to be saved… a lot… your father despised me, said I was too soft."

Goku furrowed his brow at that, wondering then how they had become mated in the first place. Gine just gave him a knowing smile and shrugged.

"I suppose it was all the big macho-man routine for him, because after a while he actually seemed to _enjoy_ helping me. When he told me to leave the team, I was broken. But he came to me later, and explained himself. He revealed what he really felt, and was uncertain about what to do about it. Heh, we mated that night, that's what _I _did about it."

Goku averted his eyes, feeling a slight rush of heat to his cheeks that was unpredicted by him. The sheer open-ness of his mother wasn't really a shock, but he'd never actually thought about any of that from either Saiyan. He'd done the deed with Chi Chi already, proof being his son, but it made him surprisingly uncomfortable thinking about his parents doing it.

_Wow, those times where Gohan got nervous around me and Chi suddenly make a _lot _more sense…_

"Not long after Raditz was born, many of the Saiyans began falling to Frieza's wrath, for no apparent reason. We sought to leave his servitude, creating a new vision for the Saiyan race. It was an opportunity I thought we'd never get, and Bardock and I began influencing those around us to try and change. My dream of a family, a real family that wasn't bound to honor merely for survival, suddenly became a possibility. Of course, when Frieza destroyed Vegeta, along with all of us, that possibility merely became wishful thinking."

Goku couldn't help but notice how her eyes seemed to darken at that, her face taking on a lined and strained expression. She hesitated at that, her eyes shifting out of focus again. Goku reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, unsure what to do to comfort his mother. But his touch alone brought her out of her thoughts and pulled a smile to her face again.

"And now, here we are. Thirty five years later almost and we're all together again. Of course you and Raditz don't get along so well, but then I never imagined you would! Shoot you should have seen Bardock and his brother!"

Goku hesitated, his expression turning to curiosity as he silently asked her to elaborate. She rolled her eyes and waved it off with a smirk.

"Guy named Turles, real stick in the mud that one. All I really know about him is that he shared Bardock's looks. I don't know where he wound up to be honest, and I don't really care. He disappeared before Frieza came."

Goku chuckled with a wide grin, knowing full well what had happened to the Saiyan he now knew to be his own uncle. Gine sighed, her eyes taking on a distant look once more.

"But regardless, you're here. It's almost like my long lost dream could come true now…"

She trailed off, leaving the unspoken "but" in the air in all but her voice as her eyes traced their way up to his halo. It stood out amongst all the others, because none of the other Saiyans had halos; a sign of their entrapment in hell. Goku suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable as he caught on to what she was thinking. His being here was a tease for her. He knew he'd have to leave once his business was conducted, once again leaving her to wonder about him. He furrowed his brow, drifting off into thought as inspiration struck him.

_Maybe she _can_ have her dream? Regardless of what they may have done in their past, many of these people are not bad at their core. Just look at Vegeta! He may have been a horrible person when we were younger, but that was purely due to his forced survival under Frieza. He became one of the good guys as soon as that threat was eliminated. Well… Sorta. If I can save them from this place, then I will… But how?_

Gine shook her head and nudged him with her elbow, bringing him out of his contemplations. She smiled a small smile and huffed with amusement.

"Look at me, sounding like an old lady! Our bodies may not age here, but my head is packed with memories and hopes long gone. It's a fool's hope to believe I can have what I want. What's important is that you're here now, and that you lived your life to the fullest. Hell, you lived the life I wanted you to live, even if it wasn't my influence that did it."

Goku considered her a moment, reflecting that his kinder side probably came from her and not Bardock. The life he'd lived on Earth, the family he'd started, all those around him considered him to be a powerful friend, and a kind soul. He'd heard it a hundred times, and he always tried to live up to that image. It could be his head injury as a baby rattled loose his brain and caused a personality shift, but Goku liked to believe it had a large part to do with his shared genetics with the woman standing next to him now.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that mum…"

He trailed off, unsure what else to say. They began walking in comfortable silence, leaving behind the small room in which he had changed and walking back through the maze of tunnels until they found themselves emerging into the yellow light of hell outside the cave. A few of the Saiyans and Pikkon had emerged, including Bardock's team. He had been briefly introduced to them all. There was Tora with the pony-tail, who was his second in command. Fasha was the female that he had met before. The older looking Saiyan was named Borgos, and the shorter dumpling of a man was named Shugesh. After his little exchange with the King, the four of them seemed to have found a new respect for him, which Goku's gut roared in approval of. As one, the four of them acknowledged him with a nod of the head, which he returned in kind, allowing a small smile to dance on his lips as he made his way towards his father and brother. As he came abreast to them, he cleared his throat, alerting them to his presence. Bardock turned his head and smirked in satisfaction as he took his younger son, now dressed in the armor made for him.

"Good, you look every bit a Saiyan in that. I trust it's to your liking? I hope so, because it's time to go meet our friend."

Goku felt the flame of battle kindle in his gut at the thought, knowing well what he was about to go meet. He felt his face shift to a confident smirk and clenched his fist at his side. A spike of ki caught his attention and he turned his head to see the King taking to the air and shooting off into the distance, trailing a white streak of aura and being closely followed by a large number of other Saiyans. He gently pushed his ki beneath him, floating slowly off the ground and turning towards the rest of his family.

"Let's do this! Pikkon, just stick with me okay?"

The green warrior nodded and floated up next to him. Bardock quickly embraced his mate before nodding to both of his sons and taking off quickly after Vegeta. Goku and Raditz shared a serious look before bolting after their father, leaving the few Saiyans who weren't cut out behind as they followed their King.

They had been flying about for 10 minutes, and nothing had alerted any of them to the Legendary Super Saiyan's presence. They had seen hardly anyone as of yet. Goku and Bardock had caught up to the King at the front of the group as they soared just below the yellow cloud cover that blanketed hell. Goku felt a strange sense of nostalgia as they traveled, watching the ground below them blur by with brief bits of recognition. Somewhere above him was snake way and King Kai's planet. He searched about below and saw in the distance the great blood lake where he had originally fallen from the long road during his first death.

_Oh, I wonder if Goz and Mez are still he-_

A powerful burst of familiar ki erupted ahead of them, and Goku immediately felt his heart burn with anger. His fists clenched at his sides as the memories of his time on Namek returned to his mind.

"Frieza…"

***BLOOD LAKE, NEAR THE HIDDEN ENTRANCE TO THE CHECK IN STATION***

Goz and Mez cowered from the purple and white monstrosity that was Frieza as he screamed at them. Behind the shapeshifter, Cell calmly stood with a smirk decorating his face. The group of people surrounding them looked on with anger and frustration. Despite everything that was being done to them, the two ogres had managed to hold their fear in check enough to withhold the information they sought. But now the purple tyrant had gotten fed up with his peons not getting him what he wanted.

"YOU TWO ARE GOING TO TELL ME RIGHT NOW HOW TO GET OUT OF THIS HELL HOLE, OR I WILL BLAST YOU INTO OBLIVION!"

He raised his hand to carry out his threat, pointing his finger directly at the red ogre with a feral snarl on his face. The tip of his finger glowed pink, and the two of them clenched their eyes shut in anticipation. But just as he was going to release his blast, he was interrupted by a bright gold ball of ki impacting him in the side of the head, catching him by surprise and sending him tumbling into a group of soldiers from his father's army. The group turned as one to see who had unleashed the blast, and recoiled in shock as an entire army of Saiyans landed in a group, headed by the King himself. All of them were adorned in armor similar to the soldiers who stood about Frieza as he stood, wiping the blood from the side of his face and seething at them.

"You… You STUPID MONKEYS! HOW _DARE _YOU-…"

He hesitated as he stepped forward to take them all in, spotting one Saiyan that stood out from the rest, just to the right of the King who he had disposed of himself so long ago. He just stood there in Saiyan armor, a halo above his head and his arms crossed with an uncharacteristic glare on his face. A flood of fear crawled through his veins and he visibly began quaking at the sight of the Saiyan who had defeated him so soundly.

"G-Goku… No it can't be you!"

Many amongst the crowd visibly paled at the name, and a smirk appeared on the Saiyan's face. Cell began laughing behind his shorter comrade and stood up to his full height, catching the gaze of the Saiyans before him, including Goku.

"My my, Goku my old friend, you seem to have an effect on little old Frieza don't you? Oh but this is too _good_! You do remember what happened to you last time? Tell me, how is your son doing?"

Goku's smirk fell away to an angry snarl as he stared up at the android.

"What are you doing Cell?"

Cell smiled brightly at him, holding his hands out at his sides and bowing slightly towards the saiyan with a look in his eyes that held as much confidence as he'd had in life.

"Why, I'm merely paying my respects that are due to you. After all it's been so many years already since I killed you! And once I get out of here, I'll be sure to visit your Son and pay him _his _respects for killing me!"

Instantly, Goku's aura burst forth from him, shattering the ground around him and even sending some of the Saiyans besides him sliding in the opposite direction. His hair flashed gold and stood on end as he transformed, and a pair of hate-filled teal eyes glared at him from behind a mask of rage. The Android grinned even wider, crossing his arms before him and adopting a relaxed posture. Goku slowly sunk back into a prepared stance, narrowing his eyes at him before growling out just loud enough for everyone else to hear.

"Not this time Cell, you're done. You're going to stay away from my family, and you're not leaving. I won't allow it."

Cell continued to smile while getting into his own stance, glaring right back at the Saiyan.

"A fight then? I won't lie, I've wanted a rematch since our last meeting. So if it's a battle you want, then we can oblige you."

He cast his gaze to his sides, getting the attention of the many soldiers surrounding them as well as Frieza and king Cold.

"All of you, let's wipe the Saiyan Race from existence. And if you don't fight and kill them, then I will kill you myself."

Many of the soldiers reluctantly gathered their strength and prepared themselves, and the Saiyans across from them did likewise. They were outnumbered by a vast margin, but where many of Frieza's soldiers and members of the red ribbon army seemed hesitant, each and every Saiyan looked determined, with a fire in their eyes and the desire for blood on their hands. Auras burst up around the soon to be battlefield on both sides, and a calm settled for a moment across them all. Cell and Goku locked eyes once more, and the Android smirked, recalling how he had initiated their last fight.

"Ding."

**A/N: Alrighty there you go! Beginning of the end here. I'm sure some of you are wondering why Goku doesn't just sense out Broly and go straight for him right? If i didn't make it well known in the story itself, he's in hell with many of the most powerful beings in the universe. On top of that, ki sensing is like feeling out the "spirit energy" of a person if I recall correctly, and he's literally surrounded by billions of souls that have died over the many years in the universe. It's not hard for me to imagine that there is so much going in he can barely tell what's what, much less actually search for something effectively. In other words, he's got his mind fogged up with Ki. Anyways, as I said, next chapter is going to be the battle itself, and will probably end there. I may do something with it afterwards to lead into Goku's debut in my other story, or I may add another arc to it, but that is yet to be determined. R/R and let me know what you think! And as always, have a good day.**


	3. Battle of the Dead

**Well hallo there! Here we are with the third, and final chapter for this fic. It took quite a bit longer than I originally intended for it to, but with things going the way they have been at work recently, I haven't really had time for either of my fics. Now I have to give you a fair head's up here, the epilogue at the end of this chapter has a bit of a spoiler in it. It directly ties in to my first fic, though I don't state exactly _how._ It's not difficult to figure out, so i'm certain a lot of you will catch on. For those curious about my other fic, I'll hopefully be getting the next chapter of that up within two weeks. If you haven't checked it out, I invite you to go do so. It's called "What should have Been", and covers Gohan's life in this timeline after Cell with Goku absent against his will. Anyways, R&amp;R and enjoy!**

**Chapter 3: Battle of the Dead**

"Ding."

The word echoed in Goku's mind, forcing him to relive his final moments in life once more. With an almighty roar from the horde before them, the combined forces of the Cold Empire and the Red Ribbon army began to advance on the severely outnumbered Saiyans. The warrior's behind Vegeta were practically humming with excitement as he stepped in front of them, glaring down the advancing beings. He held an arm up at chest height, directing his palm towards them, and Goku felt his ki spike above the torrent of energy flaring around them.

"SHOW THEM NO MERCY! WHET YOUR TEETH ON THEIR BONES AND BANISH THEM FROM EXISTENCE THE WAY THEY DID OUR BRETHEREN!"

The advancing horde hadn't even made it to within twenty feet of the Saiyans when a hail of ki blasts of varying colors and intensity swarmed into their ranks, cutting down hundreds in a fray of limbs and explosions. Goku would have been slightly perturbed by the slaughter that was happening before him, but saw nothing but Cell. He saw past all of the soldiers before him, his glare pointedly fixed on those horrible pink eyes that sneered back at him. Cell leapt from his position, taking to the skies above them, and Goku wasted no time mirroring him. Leaving behind the blood-thirsty Saiyans, he blasted into the sky, retracting a fist and pushing his ki through it. He closed the gap in the blink of an eye, catching the genetically engineered monstrosity off guard. Cell barely managed to get his arms up before Goku's super-charged fist crashed into the hasty block, sending Cell hurtling backwards. Goku pulled up short as the Android regained his balance and glared down at him, allowing him a second of recovery. Cell righted himself and held his hands at his sides, glaring down at Goku with barely contained rage that had replaced his haughty expression.

"Always full of surprises aren't you Goku? Then again, you could have probably dealt me a serious blow there if you'd kept up your advantage. You always were a sentimental fool thinking that the only fight was a fair fight. _That_ at least hasn't changed."

The burning hatred in Goku's gut raged even hotter at his words, and he gritted his teeth up at the Android. He knew he had made mistakes before, allowing scum like Frieza to gain their full power before he fought them when he knew he could defeat them and be done with it. But no more, he'd learned since his arrival the cost of such actions.

"No, Cell. You're not getting a freebee now. I'm not here for a fair fight, I'm going to _hurt _you. You're going to squirm like the insect you are before I'm done, and you know what?..."

He trailed off and allowed a dangerous smirk to slide onto his features, and Cell visibly recoiled at the unbelievable change that had taken over the dead Saiyan. This was _not _the same man he had killed five years ago.

"I'm going to _enjoy _every. Last. Second of it."

Goku's expression dropped back into a serious glare and he bolted forward, launching into his attack at full force once more. This time Cell was prepared, and countered the kick aimed at his gut with a backhand that sailed right over the Saiyan's head. Goku continued with his momentum, spinning in the air and unleashing a blindingly fast flurry of punches and kicks that Cell blocked with equally rapid movements. They got locked into their own private battle, each trading blows and neither of them giving ground. Goku got a break and managed to work his way around the outside of an over-extended punch from the Android, and secured his advantage with a bone-shattering kick to Cell's back. The cockroach like wings snapped in the middle and fluttered to the ground below while Cell himself slammed face-first into the ground at the feet of Frieza and King cold. He lay there for a moment, and Goku took the time to make sure that there was no chance of him missing out on his goal. He dug into his ki and ripped the surface wide open, unleashing a scream as the second level of Super-Saiyan erupted within him. Electricity bolted out of him and the whirlwind that was his aura thrashed the air into a super-heated hurricane. Many of the people below him were tossed aside like paper to wind, and when he leveled his gaze with Cell, the Android's eyes widened in recognition.

"It's like _him_. That damned boy! NO! I WILL NOT LET YOU WIN AGAIN!"

Goku ground his teeth together, seeing red at the sight of Cell pushing himself to his feet and powering up to maximum. It was immense, far more powerful than the last time Goku had seen the Android fighting his son. His ki shone like a bright light in his mind, dulling the rest to a mere faint glow. Goku would have been afraid before.

But things had changed. For all that power, he was no longer a threat to Goku. The realization brought a confident smirk forth on his face. He was going to obliterate Cell, and the Android knew it. His own golden aura flared up, but the fearful look on his face refused to give way as he turned to look at Frieza and King Cold.

"Any time you two want to step in and help would be nice!"

Frieza couldn't take his eyes off of Goku floating above them all, and stepped back in fear as the Saiyan locked eyes with him. King cold nervously cleared his throat and began backing away from Cell's battered form as the wings on his back regenerated and burst out with a splash of murky grey liquid.

"Umm, actually, I think it is about time for us to take our leave Frieza."

The two Cold monarchs shared a quick glance before taking off rapidly in the opposite direction. Cell gaped at their retreating backs and clenched his fists.

"YOU COWARDS!"

They didn't even make it a hundred feet before the both of them were slammed back into the ground. In the air above them floated King Vegeta and Bardock, glaring down at them menacingly. Goku watched as Vegeta transformed once more into a Super Saiyan, flashing gold and immediately chasing after King Cold. Bardock hesitated, and Goku felt a jolt of realization as his father threw his head back and roared to the sky. A distinct golden aura flashed around him before his hair stood on end, turning gold and mimicking perfectly what Goku's hair had looked like when he first transformed. Goku felt pride swell up in him as his father finished his transformation, and made a mental note to congratulate him later. Bardock returned his eyes to Frieza's shaken form and the Tyrant froze in place, fear written all over his features.

"TIME FOR ROUND TWO FRIEZA!"

Bardock shot down towards the ground, slamming a fist into Frieza's face and sending up dust all around them. Satisfied that that problem was taken care of, Goku returned his attention to Cell. The android felt his eyes on him and spun around to glare up at him, baring his teeth at the Saiyan.

"Fine! If that's the way it's going to be, bring it on!"

Though his words came out as confident as ever, Goku could hear the hint of uncertainty behind his voice. He allowed the burning desire in his gut to overwhelm him, and he disappeared in a flash. Reappearing right in front of Cell, Goku drove his fist upwards, pushing off the ground and slamming it under Cells chin in a mighty uppercut. The sound of something breaking made Goku's blood boil, and he pressed on. Before Cell could even gather his wits about him, Goku grasped his ankle. He swung the Android around once before slamming him to the ground, knocking the wind out of him with a loud "oof". Goku pounced on his prey, pinning him to the ground with one hand while repeatedly driving his fist into Cell's face. With each blow something new broke, and with each break, Goku felt his five years' worth of anger and resentment bleeding out through his fists. Purple blood leaked out through Cell's eyes, nose and mouth, staining Goku's fist and spattering the ground around them. With one final roar, Goku threw his fist down once more, putting a burst of ki behind it. The appendage burned clean through Cell's head. With nowhere else to go, the contents of his skull burst outward like a melon hit with a hammer.

Goku pushed himself up and kicked Cell's decapitated form away, glaring at it with rage seething in his gut. He ignored the sounds of battle around him, waiting patiently for his prey.

"I know you're not done yet Cell. Get back up so I can beat you down again."

Mere moments later, Cell gasped as his head regenerated, the burst of fresh air filling his lungs once more. He pushed himself up on quivering arms, wiping his cheek of some of the grey residue. His eyes held no show of defiance anymore. Only fear.

"What the hell happened to you?! You don't enjoy pain! You're Goku!"

Goku curled his lip in disgust and began walking slowly towards the Android. There were so many things right about his statement it hurt Goku to hear it. He didn't enjoy pain, he knew it. He just didn't care at the moment. For once in his existence, he wasn't going to hold back the urges natural to a Saiyan. He wasn't going to let his better judgement take hold. No, this time, he would make an exception for Cell.

"You took everything from me Cell. You forced me to rely on my son, my _eleven year old son_, to defeat you. For everything, you're going to pay."

Cell pushed himself backwards, not even bothering to stand as death stared him down.

"W-Wait! Please, have merc-"

"MERCY?! WHERE WAS YOUR MERCY WHEN MY SON BEGGED YOU FOR IT? HE _BEGGED _YOU NOT TO PUSH HIM, TO JUST LET IT GO! WHAT DID YOU DO? HUH?"

Cell cowed as Goku roared at him. Goku stopped mere feet from Cell, glaring down at the android. He sunk down into a wide stance and cupped his hands at his side, gathering his ki and forcing it into his palms.

"Kaaaaameeeeee…"

Cell's eyes widened almost comically as he recognized his impending doom. He held his hands out, shaking his head and pleading with incoherent words for Goku not to destroy him. Goku's eyes narrowed dangerously, ignoring Cell's pleas.

"haaaaameeeeee…."

The blue ball of ki in his hands expanded to the size of a basketball, thrumming with energy begging to be released. As it was about to reach critical mass, a booming sound echoed through the air, silencing the entire battlefield. It was a voice, one voice that Goku remembered all too well.

"KAKAROOOOOOOT!"

Goku instantly felt his grasp on the ki dissipate as he spun around to look for the source of the voice. Off in the distance, barely visible as a golden speck hanging in the air, was Broly. He was as massive as ever, stuck in his Legendary Super Saiyan form, and he was closing fast. He vaguely heard Cell scramble to his feet and start shuffling away.

"Just great, you've gotten that buffoon's attention now! Your time is up Goku. Have fun with that!"

Just like that, Cell blasted away as quickly as he could, leaving the battlefield and its occupants staring up at Broly as he descended to the ground, blank eyes scanning the crowd. All around the Saiyans frozen in place, the remaining fighters scattered, scrambling to get away. Goku noted as he watched them go that none of the Red Ribbon soldiers were left, and barely a fraction of the Cold army remained. The only ones worthy of note were Frieza and Cold themselves, Zarbon, Dodoria, and the Ginyu force. He watched them leave for a second before glaring back at the Legend. Silence reigned as the rest of their opponents disappeared in the distance, and the powerful hum of Broly's aura was the only sound in the air. His brows furrowed and he bared his teeth as he scanned them, searching for his query.

"Kakarot…"

He growled out to them, and Goku could feel the Saiyans tense nervously, looking towards him. His own aura flared up as he clenched his fists, striding towards the giant with a serious glare on his face. He was still enraged about Cell, but he knew that this took precedence. Cell would be there still after he was finished with Broly. Broly's pupil-less eyes found him finally, and his scowl shifted ever so slightly to a toothy grin. Goku took a deep breath and cracked his neck, preparing for what he knew was going to be a brutal fight.

"Broly. This ends here. You're outnumbered, you can't win."

The giant narrowed his eyes, his grin sliding off his face back into a scowl. His radioactive green aura flared up rapidly, thrashing about and forcing many of the surrounding Saiyans to shield themselves. His head turned about on his thick neck, taking in his surroundings before locking back on Goku.

"Pathetic, Kakarot. Pathetic."

Off to the side, Goku could hear King Vegeta scoff sarcastically at his words.

"Wow, two words. I'm impressed."

Goku heard movement right behind him, and noticed Vegeta and Bardock appear in his peripherals, golden auras shining brightly. They were closely followed by Pikkon, who was carefully inspecting Broly with a critical eye. Bardock glowered at the Legendary Super Saiyan, turning his head towards the remaining Saiyans.

"Stay out of the way, all of you. If we can't handle him ourselves, I'll call you. Do what you can from a distance, and stay out of his reach!"

Goku glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes, impressed with the authority his voice carried. The other Saiyans around them nodded, backing away without question, even Raditz. He was incredibly grateful that his father was there to help, but this was one battle he had to fight on his own. He had to at least try to. Without raising his voice more than a murmur, he addressed the two of them.

"Let me handle him. I need to take him down. He's my mistake to fix."

"Kakarot, are you insane?"

"Knowing Goku? Definetly. We can step in at the first sign of trouble."

"Hn."

Three sets of eyes burned into the back of his head as he stepped forward to meet Broly, but thankfully they didn't try to stop him. Goku stopped a mere twenty feet away from Broly, who just glared down at him. Goku could feel the tension building in the monster before him, begging to be unleashed. He sank down into a fighting stance and glared right back, waiting for Broly to move.

"What's with the restraint Broly? Come on then!"

He knew taunting the giant was going to end painfully, but Goku wanted to test the waters, see just how powerful Broly was. Now that he was close by, his ki stuck out like a sore thumb, practically blotting out all the others around him. Broly considered him for a second before he started chuckling. His chest shook as his chuckle turned into a full-bodied laugh that made Goku's skin crawl. He could feel a drop of sweat roll down his neck and get lost beneath his armor. Broly threw his hands to the sides and stepped forward, his wide eyes glaring at Goku with manic desire burning in them as he roared. The force of the sound rattled Goku down to the bones, and he tensed in preparation as Broly made his move. Abandoning all words, Broly shot forward at him, one hand outstretched for his neck. Goku dodged below it, slamming his knee into Broly's gut with as much force as he could muster, and felt his knee nearly give under the intense force. But the blow did its job, and Broly tumbled backwards.

"GrrrrRRAAAAAA! KAKAROT!"

His feet touched the ground and he slid back, digging two trenches and planting a fist to keep himself upright. Goku touched back down, putting his weight on his opposite leg as the one he had struck with was now numb.

_Still as powerful as ever. This is going to suck._

He wasted no time, charging forward before Broly could counter him, launching a furious attack in an attempt to force an opening he could exploit. Broly recovered quickly, launching himself up to meet him, and took every single blow that Goku threw at him. Goku pressed his advantage, landing several hard punches across Broly's face before he could get his guard up, finishing it off with a rising kick to the jaw, sending Broly into the sky with the force. He planted his feet and threw a hand straight up, palm out, and unleashed a bright golden beam of light at Broly. The Saiyan spun in the air, seeing the blast coming, and caught it with an outstretched hand. Through sheer power, Broly forced it back, sending the blast back at Goku, who barely managed to swat it out of the way. Goku watched it fly off into the distance, making sure it wouldn't hit any of the bystanders before he looked back up… Straight into the face of his opponent mere feet away from him.

"RRRAAAAAA!"

Goku crumpled under the force of the blow as Broly's fist found his face, and he ploughed straight into the ground. Dirt kicked up around him as he waited for his head to stop spinning. He refocused in time to see Broly's foot descending for his chest, and flipped up and out of the way. Broly's foot buried itself in the ground all the way up to his knee, and those blank eyes glared daggers right at him as he maneuvered out of the way. Goku threw his ki behind him, launching himself at Broly with as much speed as he could, burying his shoulder in the giant's stomach and sending them both flying. He felt ribs bend and crack under the stress of the blow, and a searing pain erupted in his collarbone as the bone gave way. Just the intense aura of Broly was hot enough to burn, and his bare arms felt like he had stuck them in a furnace. With a grunt of effort, he pushed Broly off of himself. Putting his feet between them, he kicked hard. Broly flew away from him even faster, slamming backwards into the face of a cliff and disappearing in a shower of rocks and debris.

Goku landed lightly, panting from his exertions and wincing at the new aches and pains that were sure to plague him. But Broly wasn't done. There was no way that Goku had finished it so quickly. The roar of approval from the Saiyans around him fell on deaf ears as Goku felt Broly's power fluctuate wildly. He suddenly realize something was off and turned to yell at the others.

"MOVE!"

The simple word was enough, and the vast majority of the Saiyans took to the air at the same time as the explosion erupted. The cliff shattered and hundreds of green balls of ki darted out in all directions. They impacted everywhere, burning away everything they touched within a five foot radius. Goku barely managed to dodge one that came straight at him, only to stray into the path of another. He instinctively crossed his arms before himself, taking the brunt of the ki there. His forearms burned like mad as it detonated, and the force of the explosion sent him reeling. Goku landed with a heavy thud, his head spinning and ears ringing from the close proximity of the detonation. Several screams sounded out around him, and a cold sense of dread dropped into his stomach like a dead weight.

A pair of figures darted past him, but Goku couldn't quite make out who they were. Another landed next to him, pulling him up to a sitting position. His vision cleared and he surprisingly found himself looking up into the face of his Brother. Raditz extended a hand, his expression grim and serious.

"Nice try runt, but now we're joining in."

Goku shook off the pain that burned his forearms and hesitantly nodded, taking his brother's hand and allowing himself to be pulled up to standing. His father was there as well, looking him over with concern before grunting in satisfaction. He waited a second to regain his breath as his father shot off to assist Pikkon and Vegeta, who were teaming up on Broly without much success. Of the two of them, Pikkon seemed to be the only one having any real effect on Broly, and the one taking most of the hits. Broly didn't even seem to care that king Vegeta was repeatedly hitting him, though Goku could see the damage he was causing plain as day. The enraged Super Saiyan just didn't care that he was getting hit. He grabbed Pikkon's fist as it shot up to meet his sternum and torqued it around, throwing the Alien about before slamming him face-first into the dirt. He looked up just in time to see Bardock's foot plant itself in between his eyes. The blow was barely enough to force his head back, and Bardock's expression reflected his shock. Broly grabbed onto his leg with a massive hand and threw him around, straight into King Vegeta. The two of them rolled away in a crumpled heap before coming to an abrupt halt against the same cliff Broly had disappeared into. With his opponents temporarily stunned into inaction, Broly lifted his head to the sky and unleashed some of his pent up aggression in an ear-shattering roar.

"KAKAROT!"

The bloodcurdling roar made the air around them vibrate with the sheer power behind the words, and Goku noticed that Raditz was sweating profusely.

"God dammit Kakarot, what the hell did you do to piss this guy off?! I mean, I know you're an insufferable softy, but even _I _can't get that mad at you."

Goku shook the remaining dizziness from his head, regaining control of his ki and re-opening the dam in full, allowing it to pour through into his muscles once more.

_Seriously good question, I _still_ don't know what I did to Broly…_

"It doesn't matter, he's going down."

As if he could hear from the distance he was, Broly's head snapped around to face Goku in full, his brows furrowing even further into rage as his target was reacquired. Broly pointedly ignored Bardock and Vegeta as they recovered and fired a combined blast at him, shrouding him in dust and smoke for a few moments until he burst from the concealment. A vortex of debris caught in his wake trailed him as he darted straight for Goku. Suddenly realizing that he had to act quickly, Goku threw his ki behind him. Lightning arced off his body and into the ground behind him as he exploded forth with a thunderclap, meeting Broly half-way. Goku quickly assessed the situation in the blink of an eye it took for them to close together, but before he could make a move, Broly sped up. Quicker than he could react, Broly had him by his face, the rest of his body swinging around painfully as he was suddenly forced the opposite direction. He felt his back impact the ground and dig in, getting dragged through it roughly. Suddenly thankful that he was wearing something besides the soft fabric of his gi, Goku fought to reorient himself. His feet wound their way up and kicked where he assumed Broly's elbow was, while simultaneously pulling down on the behemoth's forearm.

_SNAP!_

The resounding crack of a heavy bone breaking rang through the air, quickly followed by the pained roar of Broly, who abruptly dropped the Battered Saiyan and gripped his arm, now bent at an odd angle. Not wasting any time, Goku leapt to his feet, nearly staggering forward as a wave of dizziness tried to force him back to the ground. He shook his head and spun to face Broly, noting how heavy his body seemed suddenly.

_Man, he took more out of me than I thought already. What a tank!_

Broly roared to the sky, his aura flaring wildly before a massive shockwave blew outwards from his colossal form. Goku barely managed to hold his ground, even still in his ascended Saiyan form. The others surrounding him were less lucky, getting tossed aside. A quick glance around told him that the only fighters remaining standing before the monstrous Saiyan were Pikkon, himself, and the other two Super Saiyans. A quick glance around told him all he needed about their condition. Between the short conflict with Frieza and Cell and their combined duel with the Legend himself, none of them appeared to be anywhere near a hundred percent. All of them at the minimum looked winded and bruised, with Pikkon and Goku bearing burns and cuts from their collective opponent. Without another word, Pikkon removed his outer layers, dropping his white robes and hat to the ground with an earth-shattering thud. Goku smirked and fought to gather himself as Broly continued to scream in rage and pain.

"Finally realized how tough this guy is huh?"

"Yea, no sense in taking any chances now. I'm just glad you managed to knock his arm out of commission."

Goku laughed nervously, returning his eyes to the behemoth and sinking back into a stance as Broly gathered his wits about him, returning his eyes to the battlefield with the hottest fires of hell burning in his eyes.

"I wouldn't count on that being a weakness… I think I just pissed him off more."

"KAKAROOOT! YOU WILL DIE KAKAROT!"

The other four fighters recoiled a little at the sheer insanity ringing in his voice as his eyes locked onto Goku once more. Pikkon gulped nervously and nodded his head.

"Yep… Definitely just pissed him off."

"GRRAAAAAAA!"

Broly shot towards Goku, his golden-green aura burning away several feet of ground below him as he approached, and Goku barely had time to react and get his guard up. The enormous fist that hit his block crushed his arms against his chest and sent him tumbling back. Fortunately, Goku managed to separate himself from the limb and extend his throbbing arms out to unleash a beam of blue ki point-blank into Broly's face. The force of it sent him backwards and away from his target, just as Bardock and Vegeta entered the fray. Wisely, keeping their distance this time, the two Saiyans rose above Broly and began unleashing wave after wave of ki blasts down into him, hoping that the Super Saiyan would finally go down. He disappeared in a cloud of smoke and flying debris as the torrent of blasts rained down on him. Pikkon rose above them, adding his own powerful blasts to the rain of energy before all three of them dropped and landed next to Goku. Between pants, Bardock managed to clear his throat and find his voice.

"Do-… You think-… he's done?"

Goku waited for some of the energy radiating from the cloud to dissipate, searching for Broly's ki, and was unsurprised to find it burning, though nowhere near as powerful as it had been minutes before.

"No, he's still there, but it feels like he's been weakened a lot. I'm guessing one more push like that and we might be able to get rid of him."

Vegeta considered him with a sideways glance, skepticism written all over his face.

"And how do you know all that?"

"No time, look!"

Broly charged, completely ignoring his mangled arm and rushing headlong towards Goku like a raging bull. Goku tried to get a more accurate reading on Broly to make a plan, but in his hurried mindset and with all the excess energy around him, he realized…

_Excess energy… Of course! That's it! Dammit why didn't I think of this sooner!_

"Pikkon, Vegeta, Dad, I need you to stall him for just a few seconds. I think I have an idea!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Pikkon started doing a bizarre dance of sorts. Goku, knowing exactly what he was doing, nodded and stood straight, lifting his hands to the air and furrowing his brow in concentration. Bardock and Vegeta looked at them and then at each other, sharing their confusion at their actions.

"What in the _hell _are you two doing?"

Just then, Pikkon stood straight and clenched his fists, bringing them together in front of him to point directly at the Charging Super Saiyan. Before another word could be uttered, an enormous jet of fire erupted from his outstretched arms, closing the already short distance with Broly. The other two Saiyans were forced to pause a moment as the heat of the wave hit them full in the face.

"Oh… That…"

Shaking themselves out of their surprise, the two of them took to the air and watched as Broly was forced to stop and deal with the wave. He created a ki bubble around himself, forcing it outwards towards the incoming blast in an attempt to force it away. For a second it looked like he would be able to shrug it off, but then a pair of bright blue ki blasts curved in from opposite sides, impacting the Saiyan's shield as well. Broly growled in anger, looking from left to right and catching sight of his two new attackers.

"YOU WILL ALL BURN!"

Goku glanced up at the sky and blinked in shock at the size of the blast he had been creating. Pulling from every source of energy he could get his hands on had resulted in a colossal spirit bomb hovering several hundred feet above his head. He tried to gauge the amount of energy being stored in it, and quickly concluded that while huge, it wouldn't be enough just yet. But considering he had managed to summon all of that in only ten or so seconds, it wouldn't take much longer to gather the rest. He returned his eyes to the battlefield just in time to see Broly throw his arms to the side, exploding the ki bubble around him and forcing back the attacks being thrown at him. Pikkon, Vegeta, and Bardock all were tossed back from the force of the blast, and Goku even had difficulty staying upright. With them out of his way, Broly resumed his all-out charge towards Goku.

_Dammit! It's not ready yet! I just need a few more seconds!_

He watched, helpless to do anything as Broly advanced. He was a mere fifty feet away now. Twenty. Ten…

And then he wasn't there anymore. A bright red, almost purple beam of energy hit him from the side, catching him off guard and sending the giant skidding in a different direction. Goku glanced in the direction that the all-too-familiar blast came from to see his older brother glaring after the Super Saiyan with barred teeth. Goku might have hated his brother, but in that moment, he could have hugged Raditz. Immediately after, a large number of Saiyans who were earlier cast aside reappeared, unleashing their most powerful blasts towards the staggered Super Saiyan. Raditz turned towards Goku, pointing towards Broly with panic clearly written in his expression.

"Kakarot, whatever it is you are planning on doing, you had better do it now!"

Goku looked up at the Spirit bomb once more, squinting against the blinding light it was giving off. He couldn't tell for certain if it would be enough, but after hearing Broly scream out in rage again, he determined that it would have to be. He locked his eyes onto the enraged super Saiyan and jumped into the air.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY ALL OF YOU!"

Not needing to be told twice at the tone he used, the remaining Saiyans scattered. Some of the more beat up were dragged away by their comrades, and Goku could barely see out of the corner of his eye, Pikkon dragging three or four through the air. Broly, however, didn't seem to realize what was going on. He peeked out from behind his crossed arms, smoke rolling off of his singed skin, to find Goku staring down at him from above. A bright shine that nearly blinded him forced him to hide his eyes again until they adjusted to the light, and when they did, the Super Saiyan showed an emotion that Goku had never seen before etched into his features. _Fear_.

Goku took a deep breath and clenched his eyes shut in concentration for what he was about to do. In a last second decision, he forced his own energy around the spirit bomb, forcing it inwards. The ball began to shrink in size, and grow in intensity. The light that was emitting from it now was blotting out the natural yellow light surrounding them, flushing everything with a bright blue hue. Satisfied that he had Broly stunned enough to not move, he threw his hands downwards, and the giant ball began to descend. An image replayed in his mind as he saw the ball fly past him straight towards Broly. He watched in his minds' eye as the ball descended on Frieza during his time on Namek, and the two images strangely merged. He remembered that Frieza had attempted to throw the bomb off, struggling against its might. He'd ultimately failed.

But Broly wasn't Frieza. He was more powerful than even Goku, and it just came natural to him. For that reason, Goku decided he would leave nothing to chance. He got right behind the giant ball of ki and threw his energy behind it, forcing it down faster than before. He watched, waiting for the pushback that was bound to happen. Right on cue, the ball halted and shuddered, and Goku knew that Broly was on the other side, trying to force it back. He gritted his teeth, shoving downwards with all that he had. His limbs began shaking violently under the strain he was putting them under. He felt his energy dwindling to its last reserves, and felt himself drop out of his ascended form. But even after the sudden drop in power, it proved to be enough, and his vision grew white an instant later. Searing pain consumed his front as he shielded his eyes and face with his already burnt arms. He realized that the spirit bomb had detonated, and whether or not Broly had been destroyed by the blast, he had been caught in it as well. He attempted to force himself away, but could only watch helplessly as consciousness left him, and he blacked out.

***UNKNOWN TIME LATER***

When Goku came to, it was slow, and more than a little painful. He silently opened his eyes and found himself to be looking at dirt. Dirt that was several feet away from him… And he was on his back… On something soft. He blinked in confusion a few times before it suddenly hit him, that he must have been brought back to the Saiyan tunnels. He let the thought sink in for a moment, putting together what must have happened since his fight with Broly.

_Crap! Broly!_

He immediately shot up to the standing, shutting his eyes again and trying to sense him out. Like before, millions upon millions of souls pressed in around his senses, none of them sticking out in particular.

"It's about damn time you woke Kakarot."

The familiar gruff voice rang out from behind him, startling him into turning around. Raditz was there, leaning up against a wall with a stern expression on his face. His arms were crossed and he watched Goku carefully, as if trying to figure something out. Goku stood straight, reasoning that if his brother was acting so coolly, then the threat must have been removed. But it didn't completely put him at ease, he'd made the mistake of thinking his opponent was finished before. His uncertainty must have been evident on his face because Raditz waved an irritable hand at him, rolling his eyes.

"Calm yourself Kakarot, your blasted attack finished him. He's nothing more than dust and energy now."

"You're sure? There's no way he got back up?"

"Yes, yes Kakarot! Now do us all a favor and get dressed and I'll show you. You've caused a stir here in hell little brother, even that grasshopper creature fears you."

Goku tensed nervously at his words. Of all the things he'd been called in his lifetime, he'd never expected to hear the words "Little brother" from Raditz, even less so in the tone he had said it. There was no sign of malice or contempt behind it, if anything there seemed to be a hint of pride coloring his voice. Goku just watched in silence as he left, turning his back and disappearing past the threshold of the room. Taking a quick breath, he allowed a smirk to decorate his features before searching for his clothes. He found them in the form of his old gi, folded on the edge of the cot he had been laying on.

_Mother._

He glanced down and found himself to be completely nude, his skin red where it had been burnt. He checked himself for other injuries, but sighed in satisfaction when he realized there were only bruises and light burns left. It occurred to him that someone had gone through the trouble of assisting his healing, and he wondered how long he had been out. With his self-inspection done, he began to dress himself.

Half-way through being dressed, a new presence entered his awareness. At first he had thought it was Prince Vegeta, but then he recognized the rest of it. He felt his face form into a scowl and turned to meet Cell, who was being forcefully dragged around by a stoic looking Pikkon. The tall alien kicked Cell's knees out from under him, forcing the android to kneel where he quaked in fear. Goku allowed a smirk to dance on his lips at the expression he wore, and quirked an eyebrow at Pikkon, who merely shrugged and pushed roughly on the back of Cell's head.

"Found this little twerp roaming about after the fight, figured I'd hold onto him for you. He put up a fight… For a little while."

"Arrogant green s-"

"Shut it grasshopper!"

Pikkon silenced the Android before he could even get a sentence out, and Goku felt a deep satisfaction in watching Cell cower. He didn't need to know what Pikkon had done to him, all he needed was to see the results. Pikkon crossed his arms and looked down at him with open distain.

"You want to finish the job? I know you were itching to get him back for killing you."

Goku seriously considered it, watching the android's eyes as fear danced behind them. For a few seconds nothing happened, then Goku smirked and knelt down before Cell. He placed a hand on his shoulder as if to comfort him, making the android wince in anticipation.

_This is sooooo wrong, but damn if it doesn't make me feel better._

"No, I think I'm going to let him live."

He hesitated there, watching the confusion worm its way through Cell's brain.

"Destroying him would be doing him a favor. This way, I can come back whenever I want to take it out on his hide. Don't forget Cell, this is hell. I'm going to make sure that you remember it."

With the pause in the conversation, Goku suddenly scowled and threw a right hook across Cell's unprotected face. The air was rent with a loud crack, and Goku stood to his full height, turning away to gather his gi top and tie the belt around his waist.

"Don't you forget, if you so much as come near my Family, I will be there. I won't destroy you, I'll just beat you to within an inch of your life, and when you get back up again, I'll just beat you down again. You'll never get a break from the pain. Got it?"

He didn't even hear a response as Pikkon dragged the Android from the room, no doubt to take him off somewhere to be dumped. He sighed and closed his eyes, allowing himself to get back to a state of level-headedness.

Minutes later he followed his brother, walking out of the chamber he had been in and through a darkened hallway. Headed towards the sound of loud conversation and light that came from the end of the tunnel, he suddenly felt the same nervousness that had gripped him upon his original arrival. No doubt the Saiyans were gathered once more. Even after the battle had taken place, he wondered to himself how he would be received. His last conversation with the King still weighed on his mind, as did that with his mother. He considered all that had transpired, and wondered what was to be done with the Saiyans.

_It'd be selfish to think I could just get my mother and father out of hell. No doubt it would hurt them to be separated from the rest of the Race… And Raditz... I've never lived among them, and for that matter neither did Vegeta. We were cast away when we were just kids, having to make our own circle of friends… The Saiyans are bound to each other by battle, there's no way I could take a couple and leave the rest without hurting everyone involved. Not to mention they look up to my father as their General. So then, how can I make it better? There has to be a way._

So lost in his contemplations was he, that he didn't even notice he had stepped into the light of the room where the Saiyans were gathered. A loud cheer brought him out of his state, and he blinked in surprise at what was before him. They were all there. Many of the Saiyans he had met prior to the battle were there, fists in the air and an approving look on their face. Even Nappa and Raditz were there, though the two of them weren't cheering. They watched him with unreadable expressions, observing him in silence as their kind cheered. Goku felt a blush heat his cheeks as he looked around at them.

_Wow… Talk about a warm welcome._

A familiar warmth captured his attention as his mother grabbed him up in a firm hug, lifting his feet clear off the ground and nearly crushing the air out of him. He blinked in shock and silently motioned for her to put him down, since he was incapable of actually creating words. Gine quickly obliged him, grinning and laughing at his discomfort.

"I knew you could do it Kakarot! We could feel the force of the fight _from here_! I'd never have though someone could be so powerful, but here he is in front of me, my son! Oh, and don't mind the armor, I'm just glad it could serve you as well as it did! Hell, you were barely more than burnt after your little scuffle there, four days was more than enough to get you back on your feet!"

Goku couldn't help but gape at her as the words washed over him. A lot more time had passed since he had gone under than he originally believed, more than enough time for Broly to do some serious damage had he survived their encounter. Still in his numbed state, he didn't react. At least, up to the point where Gine elbowed him in the ribs with a sly smirk on her face, her expression devious.

"And you know, there's more than one Female out there who saw you after we put you down to rest. Tail or no, I think you've got some ladies that liked what they sa-aw."

Goku recoiled at her sing-songy words, his eyes going wide as saucers as he looked at his mother with a newfound panic. She just beamed up at him playfully as Bardock joined them. He placed a firm hand on her shoulder and rolled his eyes in amusement.

"Now Gine, you know he's already been mated. The boy is off limits."

She crossed her arms and pouted.

"Can you blame a woman for wanting to meet her grandkids? I mean Raditz never got the chance and Kakarot's are still alive…"

She trailed off, eyeing several of the Saiyan women scattered around the room, seemingly trying to imagine something in her mind. Bardock just sighed and gave Goku a meaningful look.

"You know that we can't here love, no matter how real pleasures of the flesh may be, it's impossible to conceive. You know that."

Her pout grew even more there, and it almost hurt Goku with how depressed she looked.

"I hate being in hell… It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't know we were going to be stuck here forever."

Goku couldn't help but notice how quiet things had gotten in the room suddenly. A quick glance around told him that all eyes were on them, many of them reflecting the same sadness that had claimed his mother. Steeling his resolve, Goku cleared his throat. All eyes shifted to him, and he tensed nervously, but pressed on.

"A-Actually I… May have a way to do something about that. It's not much just yet, and I don't want to give anyone false hope, but I might know a way to get you out of hell. All of you."

He could practically hear all the breathing hitch in the room, waiting in anticipation for him to continue. The silence was deafening. He looked around at them, only now realizing that King Vegeta was also present and watching him carefully. When he looked back at his parents, his mother looked on the verge of tears, staring at him with a newfound hope burning in her eyes. Bardock took a meaningful glance at her before narrowing his eyes at Goku with a slight frown on his face.

"How?"

Goku coughed nervously and scratched at the back of his neck, looking at his mother for his own support to continue.

_You're probably overstepping your bounds here Goku... Bad. But they're worth it. They're my people, I have to be able to do something._

"I have a… connection I may be able to work up in otherworld. I can't guarantee it, and I couldn't tell you when, but I might be able to get you passage to another realm. I might be able to get you into otherworld, with time."

Silence hung over them all, and Goku waited for a response. He'd hoped to stir some form of hope in their hearts, but most of the faces he saw seemed grim. Accepting of their fate. King Vegeta broke the silence, standing from his seat at the edge of the room.

"The Saiyan race, cast out from hell and into the otherworld? It is a fantastical dream, but nothing more. We know our own history, the blood shed on behalf of that scum Cold and his sons. I do not think that one Saiyan can make a difference amongst gods when the whole race has failed."

Like the expressions of his followers, King Vegeta's voice was laden with calm acceptance. He truly believed that this was where they belonged. Goku understood why, but he didn't want to leave it so simply. He looked over his shoulder at his father, who was watching him carefuly, and his mother. She was obviously torn, hoping against hope that she would one day be rid of this hell-hole, with the rest of her believing she would never achieve her dream. Goku gave her a small smile and nodded.

"Sometimes Sire, dreams like that are worth fighting for."

***SOME TIME LATER – CHECK IN STATION***

Goku emerged from King Yemma's desk drawer right after Pikkon, still lost in thought about their departure. It had been mostly uneventful. With nothing to eat, and the lack of needing to eat on top of it, there was no feast in celebration. No music, no festivities at all. All that they could really do was mingle and talk, congratulating each other, sharing stories and receiving lots of thanks. The whole time, he had been preoccupied with how to approach his new purpose in death; how to free the Saiyans from hell. When it was time for them to head back, there wasn't much in the name of good-byes. Several of the warriors had come to see him off, but the only ones who gave actual departing words were his mother, father, King Vegeta, and Raditz. The last two barely said more than mumbled words that closely resembled a "good-bye". His father expressed how proud he was to have finally met his second son, and Gine seemed to have difficulty letting go of him. Goku knew she had tried to be strong, but saw right through her to the pain she was feeling. After reassuring her that he would be back someday, he and Pikkon had shot off to find the secret tunnel leading directly to the check in station.

"Hey Pikkon, why don't you like the Instant transmission? It's not that bad."

"Are you kidding? It's like being squished through a tiny rubber hose millions of miles long. My skin crawls just thinking about the feeling."

"Awww you get used to it!"

"_AHEM!_"

The sound of a huge voice clearing its throat brought them rapidly out of their conversation as they finally set foot on the check-in station. The two of them looked up to find King Yemma staring down at them with a quirked eyebrow and frown on his face. He looked down at his watch and then pointed at it, showing them the face of it.

"Would you two mind telling me what _took so freaking long?!_ I sent you to hell for one little job and you take five days to get it done?! What happened?"

Goku flinched at the tone the giant demon used on them, and looked at Pikkon out of the corner of his eye. The tall alien simply shrugged, an indifferent expression on his face.

"Cell and Frieza were trying to get out of hell using Broly as a distraction. We fought them off, then Broly came, and we destroyed him. Well, Goku did anyways, but not before nearly turning himself into a pile of dust as well. The Saiyans decided to assist us, and after that they took Goku in for healing, despite my saying we could get him up to speed here."

"Wait, the Saiyans? Those guys are still down there? I thought they had all been wiped out by Cell and some of those other Cretans…"

At this point, Goku cleared his throat, remembering what it was he had decided to do. He put on his best smile and scratched at the back of his neck nervously.

"Well yea, most of them are alive I think. I mean, there's only a few hundred fighters left, but I think there's a couple thousand in hell altogether. But that's something I've been meaning to ask you about…"

He trailed off uncertainly, trying to think of how to say it. Next to him, Pikkon seemed visibly nervous for the first time since arriving back in otherworld. He watched Goku carefully, and the Saiyan knew he was now in dangerous territory. Yemma looked at him expectantly, awaiting what he had to say.

"Well, if it's possible… Is… Is there a way for the Saiyans to have another chance? Can they get out of hell?"

King Yemma was still for several seconds as he let the words wash over him, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Goku.

"You're talking about escaping hell-"

"N-No sir! Not escape. I want to know if they can be allowed to leave and go elsewhere! They're not totally evil, I know it! I've seen it! I know they had a checkered past at best, but so did Vegeta! There's a lot of good in them."

Yemma sat back in his chair, glaring down at Goku with a stern expression.

"You do realize what it is you're asking of me right? Never before has anyone I've condemned to hell come back out. After everything that the Saiyan race did, all of them, you want me to unleash them into otherworld? Why should I even entertain the notion?"

Goku brightened up at the fact that Yemma hadn't outright shot it down. He dared to hope that he would be able to pull this off.

"Because they did help me down there, and they were helping you too without you knowing it! I mean, they were trying to deal with Cell and Broly even before I showed up, and when I did, they fought off an army, allowing me and Pikkon to focus on the big ones! They're not bad, just trying to survive down there like they were in life!"

King Yemma clasped his hands in his lap and looked contemplative for a few seconds.

"I can see how strongly you feel about this Goku, but I can't do anything about it. The word of a single man isn't enough to secure their release. I like you, and you've done a lot for us all, but this isn't as simple as me snapping my fingers and making it so. I'll keep my eye on them, and if they can prove their worth, I will do what I can to give them a chance. But I make no promises."

Goku felt his heart sink just a bit at his words, but shook it off, knowing that there was at least a chance. But before he could say anything else, Yemma held a hand up to stall him.

"You can't breathe a word of it to them Goku. I have to be able to judge their merit based solely on their actions, not what you tell them to do."

Goku sighed in defeat at that, knowing that he wasn't going to get much else. Still, he was pretty impressed with himself. He'd made a deal with a god of all people, and possibly changed the fate of an entire race all in a day.

"Just one question. How will you know when you've seen it? I mean, what will it take?"

Yemma seemed to hesitate at that, looking at Goku nervously. He twiddled his thumbs together and averted his eyes, obviously uncomfortable with the territory that he had stumbled into.

"It'll be sooner than you might think Goku, but they'll know their time when it comes. For now, I must leave things as they are, and you should be getting back to the Grand Kai's place."

Goku took a deep breath, knowing that their exchange was done, and nodded up at the gatekeeper. Turning his back on the red giant, he absentmindedly grasped onto Pikkon's shoulder and pressed his fingers to his forehead, not even thinking about what he was doing. He phased out and they reappeared on the familiar scene of the Grand Kai's garden, where Pikkon roughly shoved Goku off of him with a strangled growl.

"DAMMIT GOKU!"

Stunned into silence as he tried to figure out what had happened, Goku scratched at the back of his neck, looking at Pikkon fuming at him. As soon as he realized what he had done, he chuckled nervously.

"My bad Pikkon, didn't even think about it when it happened."

Pikkon brushed himself off and calmed himself with a deep breath, averting his eyes.

"Yea, I guess you got a lot on your mind. By the way, what was with all that stuff with King Yemma?"

Goku shrugged, looking apologetically at his friend. It wasn't something he usually allowed to show, much less discuss.

"I just… I haven't seen my family in five years Pikkon. I'll likely never see them again actually. Meeting my parents, the rest of my race, it opened a whole new world to me. They're also my family, and I can't stand seeing them trapped in such a place. My mother had a big part of it, she showed me what the Saiyan race can be capable of, even if they don't know it. I want to give them a chance they never received in life."

Pikkon gave him a knowing smirk and crossed his arms.

"So you're trying to give yourself some sort of family to look to here in otherworld?"

Goku chuckled and rolled his eyes, slightly frustrated that Pikkon had seen the real reason for his request. Though he admitted, he didn't exactly try to hide it.

"Yea, you got me. But you heard Yemma, it's not gonna happen just yet…"

"Hn. So…"

"So…"

"You want a rematch? We never did get around to settling whether or not you won that tournament."

Goku felt a thrill in his chest that had been absent only days ago. Where he had been cold and empty, there was now at least something stirring within him. He had a family, one which he actually had a chance of being around. It wasn't the one he had created, it wasn't even one he had grown up with. But it was blood, and it was something he longed for. The hope that had been kindled in his broken heart raged into a passion for battle. Even during the fight with Broly, he hadn't felt it. That fight was a necessity, he had to do it to survive. But now, with no pressure, he actually felt the excitement that had driven him since he was a child. He gave a confident smirk towards his friend and clenched a fist in front of him.

"You're on Pikkon."

The Green alien smirked knowingly and took off, heading directly for the location of the tournament room, trailing a white streak of ki. Goku took off after him, lost in the thrill of battle for the first time in years.

"Oh, and Goku?"

"Hm?"

"No spirit bombs please?"

Goku blinked twice at him as the words sunk in, before bursting into laughter alongside his friend.

**~~~~~SPOILER ALERT!~~~~~**

**EPILOGUE**

***TWO YEARS LATER – HELL***

Gine tiredly entered her shared chamber, looking to her mate's sleeping form. She was beat, ready to fall into unconsciousness as soon as she laid down, but something seemed different now. She leaned against the doorframe, watching Bardock as he slept with a small smile on her face.

Her son had visited again, though only for a short while this time. Less than a week ago, he'd appeared out of nowhere, sending ripples through the ranks of the Saiyans. He had immediately set out to find her and Bardock, leaving silent stares in his wake. When they had been found, everything seemed to just stop in time. She still remembered the feeling that clutched at her heart when she saw him again, just as tall and handsome as his father, and still with the halo hovering over his head. His carefree grin was infectious, and even her eldest seemed to respond relatively warmly to his presence now. But that was nothing to the feeling she'd felt at his news. And there was a lot of it.

She felt herself grin in pride as the first bit of information replayed in her mind.

_"I discovered another form of Super Saiyan! I'm just gonna go ahead and call it Super Saiyan three since 'double ascended Super Saiyan' doesn't really roll of the tongue well."_

The other two's response to that was amusing to her. They'd both locked eyes with each other and given a look that clearly said '_Another?!_'. But once that was out of the way, and they had recovered their jaws, he had pressed on.

"_I spoke with the Grand Kai, and he's given me permission to come down here to see you guys more often! I know it's been a long time since I saw you, but I've been pushing for this since I left the last time. So, you can expect me around a little more often… Hopefully... Hey! I can train you guys some of the stuff I know! Maybe get you to that next level?"_

Of course that bit had been received well by everyone, except for maybe Raditz. While it seemed he'd found a new respect for his younger brother, he didn't seem too keen on having him around regularly. But he didn't say anything out loud. The prospect of possibly reaching the level of Super Saiyan was an inviting notion. After that, he'd told them he was going to save his last bit of news for later, and immediately had gone into trying to help them learn how to sense "ki" as he called it.

Now _that _had been entertaining. All three of them had used scouters during their lifetime of fighting, and had no clue how to do what he was suggesting. They didn't even know it was possible to do something like that. Strangely enough, it was her that felt something first. They had been there for nearly an hour already when she felt the tug he was mentioning. It was like sitting by a fire, feeling the warmth pulse as it flickered. That had been when she suddenly became hyper-aware of her own energy. Sure, she had always had access to it since she was just a child, like most Saiyans. But she'd never noticed how _alive_ it felt, like a raging fire within her. She remembered tilting her head down, with her eyes still shut, and could almost _see_ her ki like a light shining in the dark.

That was when she noticed her son's energy. It burned like a sun in her mind, absolutely dwarfing hers like a star would it's smallest planet. At first she hadn't realized what it was she was feeling, but then she had opened her eyes and saw him. It was like seeing him for the first time all over again, and just like the first, she was stunned into inaction. He seemed to notice that she was staring at him and grinned at her, further numbing her mind with his good-natured smile.

_He's not just powerful, he's unreal! I could never hope to achieve what he has, and he doesn't have the blood of thousands on his hands to achieve it… He smiles like everything is just as good as it could be… _

Immediately after that thought, another one occurred to her. His first visit had been incredible, but he'd been sent with a job to do. They had been a surprise to him. Now that she thought back to it, there was no carefree grin then. He seemed sad, worn out, and hollow compared to the man before her. He looked _happy_. She reviewed what she knew about his situation, and came to a surprising conclusion.

_This is what he wants. He wants his family back. And we're the best thing he has in this existence._

That had immediately filled her with warmth that spread from her chest, and she had simply smiled back. He'd congratulated her, somehow realizing what she had seen. She didn't question it, just accepting the praise from her son. It hadn't been much longer after that Bardock managed to sense something as well, though his description remained vague when asked. To her, it seemed like he was noticing energy, but was unable to tell whose was whose. Raditz however, had received no such luck. When Kakarot finally called for a halt in their training, the two other men had obliged a little too quickly, and she could swear she saw something akin to embarrassment on both of their faces. It was all amusing to her, that she could do something that they couldn't, even as powerful as they were.

But he'd told them not to worry, that they would get it if they kept trying. The next few hours passed to quickly for her liking, with many interruptions by Saiyans who came to greet Kakarot. They shared stories of their past, trying to fill the others in on their lives and times after death. She was particularly interested in his "wife" and son, as he referred to them. The concept of marriage wasn't too difficult to grasp, but it brought up an interesting question. Humans spoke the language that was considered universal amongst the planet trade, and by his account they looked like Saiyans. Add in the fact that Humans and Saiyans were capable of procreating, _and _had produced a being that Kakarot claimed was even more powerful than himself, and she began wondering if there wasn't some connection long forgotten in the sands of time.

But that was a worry for another time it seemed, as he had suddenly had to leave. She wasn't sure what had happened to make him seem so out of it, like he was being spoken to by someone only he could hear, but it had scared her. At least until he had brightened up and grinned at them, and stated his last bit of news that he had been holding onto.

"_I'm going back to Earth, I just found out yesterday. Or at least I think it was yesterday? I can never tell time in a place that doesn't have night. But yea, the Grand Kai said I was going to get sent back for something important. He didn't say whether or not I would get to see everyone, but he did say that I would have some time to myself there."_

She wasn't too sure what that entailed, but she could feel his excitement almost as if it were her own. Even her mate seemed excited at the prospect. When pressed for more details, he had simply stated that he wouldn't know much else until he got there. Something about finding two guys that the Kai had mentioned that would fill him in. But then he gave them a particularly interesting bit of news that instantly caught their attention.

"_Oh, and I was asked to inform you, dad, that King Kai, or North Kai, would be coming down here for you and King Vegeta. He asked me to be sure you would protect him against some of the guys here. It's gonna help you too because he can communicate with people telepathically! You can watch what happens from here! In… umm… A week? Yea a week! He'll be here in a week, so around the same time they send me back!"_

Now _that_ had peaked her interest. She would possibly get to see these people she was so curious about, and get a glimpse of his life, even if it was only for a short while. Hell, even seeing something besides the bleak yellow light of hell would have been welcome, but this was a goldmine in comparison.

With the information given, they said their goodbyes. It was short and simple, and with a press of his first to fingers to his forehead, he disappeared into thin air. It had left her with a peculiar mixture of sadness and excitement. But there was nothing to be done now but wait. So the next few days they spread the word, and the three of them tried harder to learn that "ki sensing" thing he tried to teach them. It was surprisingly more tiring than she anticipated, which had resulted in her mates current state of being passed out and her nearly falling away with him. Raditz was still at it, only just now catching onto what his little brother had been saying.

So there she stood, leaning against the door and watching Bardock sleep, reminiscing on the last few days with a smile. It was serene, and she could have almost forgotten that she was in hell. But the peace was suddenly shattered when Bardock cried out in anger, shooting up and transforming suddenly. She hid her face from the thrashing wind and winced as something hit her in the leg. It was so sudden she had no clue what had happened.

"BARDOCK!"

He ignored her, his roar shaking the ground beneath her feet. She peeked through her fingers and saw that his eyes were unfocused. She'd seen it only once before, many years ago. Her eyes widened in shock and she tried to push through the gale assaulting her. She instinctively recoiled her tail around her waist and lunged forward, closing the distance and tackling him back down onto the cot. The scream stopped, and she was left panting on top of him as his transformation died out and his eyes refocused. A cold sweat had broken out on his brow, and he was breathing sharply. When he realized who exactly had pinned him down, she saw fear shoot through his eyes. He pushed her off of him and stood, removing himself from the cot and her embrace. She waited patiently for him to speak, as she knew he would. He caught his breath, leaning against the wall and looking at her out the corner of his eye.

"Are you okay? I didn't hurt you did I?"

She huffed and rolled her eyes, allowing her tail to unfurl from around her waist again.

"I'm fine Bardock, I'm not really a weakling you know…"

He nodded and averted his eyes, standing straight and holding his head as if a dizzy spell had claimed him. She quietly joined his side, grasping onto his arm and looking up at him seriously.

"What was it Bardock? I'm no fool, I'd recognize that sort of thing anywhere, even if it's been almost forty years."

He closed his eyes in concentration holding his head in his free hand and trying to sort through the images.

"It… I'm not sure exactly what it was I saw. It was just as vivid as before… The other one, with Kakarot and Frieza. But it was different. I didn't know these people. There was... It was a man, dressed in Saiyan armor, like mine. He called himself Bardock, but I couldn't see his face behind the helmet he wore. He has to have been a Saiyan, he transformed into the Oozaru. But there was no control, he just destroyed and destroyed until his planet was gone... After that? It's even stranger, there was this pink... thing... I've never seen anything like it before, it was systematically destroying worlds, until there was nothing left in the galaxy. It just demolished it. And then there was a girl. She looked Saiyan, but she didn't have a tail. She was in pain, dying. Somehow she was connected to that Bardock person. Gah this is so confusing!"

Gine furrowed her brow in concentration, considering everything he had said. She was just as lost as he was in that aspect, none of the information seemed to connect in a coherent manner. But one thing was abundantly clear to the both of them. This wasn't just a nightmare. No, for the first time in a very long time, Bardock had experienced a premonition. The things that Bardock had seen were bound to happen, and this time, it seemed that the fate of their galaxy was at stake. He looked down at his mate, his expression serious as ever.

"We have to tell someone."

"Who? King Vegeta barely believed you the last time, and he can't exactly make anything happen from here. Who do we tell that will make a difference?"

Bardock's brow furrowed even deeper as his eyes seemed to search for an answer, and when it came he brightened up considerably. It was so beautifully simple, and it had practically been given to them. He would make sense of this yet, and now he would e able to do something about it.

"How about a Kai?"

**A/N: There you go folks! This is the finale of this fic, told you it'd be short! I hope you guys enjoyed it, because it was fun as hell for me to write. There's going to be a continuation of this story line of sorts in the main fic, and I wanna see how many people can figure it out before I get there. Because I know that some of you are still sitting there with questions unanswered. Please leave your questions, comments, and concerns, and always, have an outstanding day!**


End file.
